
Class 

Book 

Copyright^? 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 



THE 



PLAN OF SALVATION 




BY 
J. B. SHELNUTT 



Nashville, Tenn. 

McQUIDDY PRINTING CO. 

1916 



[Copyright, 1916, by J. B. Shelnutt.] 






A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR. 



My desire in presenting this work is to help 
the seeker of truth to a better understanding 
of God's word. I have no selfish motive; my 
desire is that men may know the truth and 

obey it. 

I have tried to be simple and plain, so that 
plain "folks" may be helped by reading it. I 
make no claim to elegance of style, nor to a 
choice selection of words, nor to beautified 
rhetorical rounded figures. 

This work is a production of spare moments. 
I am Clerk and was Clerk of the Walton Su- 
perior Court, Walton County, Ga., during the. 
writing of this book. 

The odd moments that I have used in pro- 
curing the contents of this book have been 
beneficial to me, and I trust that you may find 
truths that will help you in making a success- 
ful life's journey. 

With love for the souls of men and for the 
church of Jesus Christ, I offer you this mes- 
sage. J. B. Shelnutt, Sr. 



i 



Monroe, Ga. 



/ 



JUN 12 1916 

©CI.A431478 
1U I , 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 
The New Birth 5 

CHAPTER II. 
The Begetting Power — The Gospel 13 

CHAPTER III. 
Faith 20 

CHAPTER IV. 
Faith — Continued 26 

CHAPTER V. 
Faith— Concluded 33 

CHAPTER VI. 
Repentance 38 

CHAPTER VII. 
The Great Commission 49 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Conversion 56 

CHAPTER IX. 
Born of Water 63 

CHAPTER X. 
Born of Water— Concluded 68 

CHAPTER XI. 
Born of the Spirit 75 

CHAPTER XII. 
Confession 82 

CHAPTER XIII. 
The Holy Spirit Reproves 88 



4 Contents. 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Gift of the Holy Spirit 93 

CHAPTER XV. 
Gifts of the Spirit 98 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Holy Spirit Baptism 102 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Holy Spirit Baptism — Continued 108 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
Holy Spirit Baptism — Concluded 112 

CHAPTER XIX. 
Predestination 118 

CHAPTER XX. 
Predestination — Concluded 125 

CHAPTER XXI. 
God No Respecter of Persons 133 

CHAPTER XXII. 
Called of God 138 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
Election — Chosen of God 144 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
Election — Continued 149 

CHAPTER XXV. 
Election — Concluded 156 

CHAPTER XXVI. 
" Final Perseverance of Saints " 163 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
" Final Perseverance of Saints " — Concluded 170 



THE PLAN OF SALVATION. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE NEW BIRTH. 



Alan has by observation and experience 
learned that the laws of God are deep, high, 
and wide; that, after ages and ages of study, 
he is still confronted with many secrets and un- 
explored fields of beauties and harmonies in 
the created and the laws governing such. 

Man was placed in a world teeming with all 
kinds of birds and fowls; animals, wild and 
domestic; waters, in all shapes and depths; 
and upon the earth, all kinds of plants and 
trees; in the earth, all kinds of metals; and 
planets, huge in size, flying with electric speed 
around and above us. Although creation is 
marvelously wonderful, the laws by which the 
created are governed are almost as wonderful 
as creation itself. Everything, from the small- 
est to the greatest, has a governing law. 

The moment that man begins the study of 
himself and his relation to the created and to 
his Creator, he enters the greatest field of 



6 The Plan of Salvation. 

thought permitted man to pass through — that 
the law of spiritual life, the principles and 
power that God has instituted to work and in- 
fluence the actions of man, to prepare him for 
eternity, in a new world, is the climax of 
thought and the greatest of all laws. 

Mankind seems satisfied to stay as long as 
possible, and has gone to work and out of the 
created materials has constructed machinery 
in accordance with the laws that be until this 
world is a grand machine shop. But a time is 
coming when man will cease to construct, and 
every wheel stop, and a new creation ushered 
in by Him that made the present worlds. 
Man's abode is to be changed. 

Among the many wonderful things made 
known to man is the possibility of a new birth. 
Nothing in heaven or on earth is so important. 
Entering the kingdom of God stands first as to 
man's duty. "First seek ye the kingdom of 
God" is every man's privilege and duty. Je- 
sus had a conversation with Nicodemus on the 
subject of the new birth, to which we invite 
your attention. (John 3: 1-8.) 

The idea of a new birth was startling to Nic-. 
odemus. He said : "How can these things be ?" 
He thought of a reentering of mother's womb 
and being born again. Do you claim this new 
birth, or are you in doubt? We believe that 
somebody is yet mistaken about this birth. Je- 
sus, in his explanation, emphasizes and tells 



The New Birth. 7 

him of what a man must be born: "Verily, 
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born 
of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into 
the kingdom of God/' 

Jesus came that a new kingdom might be set 
up. John the Baptist said: "The kingdom of 
heaven is at hand." A new order and rule of 
heaven is about to take place; and for man to 
enter, he must be born of water and of the 
Spirit — not water alone nor Spirit alone, but 
both. 

The birth of flesh is one birth ; and of water 
and of the Spirit, another. Some claim that 
the birth of water refers to that of mother's 
womb. But that will not hold good. Jesus is 
telling Nicodemus, a man born of the flesh, of 
what a man must be born to enter the kingdom 
of God. If a man had a dozen mothers, that 
would not change it. The word " except' ' set- 
tles the question as to what a man is to be born 
of and the conditions of entering. 

Nicodemus was told of something relative 
to the future — how a man could enter "the 
kingdom at hand." He could not enter "the 
kingdom at hand" until set up. John the Bap- 
tist made ready a people for the Lord. He 
told them that a great One was coming, hav- 
ing authority and power for salvation. But 
John the Baptist did not set up the kingdom. 
"For a testament is of force after men are 
dead." (Heb. 9: 17.) 



8 The Plan of Salvation. 

On the day of Pentecost the Spirit came and 
the kingdom was set up. Compare Isa. 2: 2, 
3 ; Dan. 2 : 44, 45 ; Mic. 4 : 1, 2 to Luke 24 : 44- 
47; then read Acts 2, and we find the fulfill- 
ment. Peter, in referring to this day (Acts 1 1 : 
15), calls it "the beginning." Jesus had said 
that it should begin at Jerusalem. According 
to the foregoing, at Pentecost is the time and 
place. Every kingdom must have a king, and 
at this time Jesus had gone to the Father and 
was made King. 

That we may better understand what Jesus 
means by being born of water and of the Spirit, 
we think the sure plan is to find out what the 
apostles taught and see what the people did 
after the kingdom was set up. The apostles 
preached the terms of admission, and thou- 
sands entered the kingdom under their preach- 
ing. Jesus explained through the apostles 
what man must do in order to be "born of wa- 
ter and of the Spirit." 

If the people who obeyed on the day of Pen- 
tecost entered the kingdom, and the record says 
they "were added," our contention is, they 
were "born of water and of the Spirit," for Je- 
sus had said, "Except." Therefore we con- 
clude that to be born is to be saved ; that to be 
saved is to be pardoned of sin; that the new 
birth is the completion of pardon. 

What is it that is to be born? Jesus said, 
"Except a man," meaning the entire man. 



The New Birth. 9 

Also notice, "that which is born of the Spirit 
is spirit/' just as "that which is born of the 
flesh is flesh." There is a new spiritual crea- 
tion — a new being formed by the power of God 
through gospel law. 

In the following chapters we wish to show 
how a sinner is pardoned and what it is to be 
"born of water and of the Spirit. " 

The kingdom mentioned is spiritual, and 
man must be born of the Spirit to enter. In 
the kingdom of nature lives no man that has 
not the birth of the flesh. Infants are not sub- 
jects of this law. A babe has no personal sin. 
It has violated no law. It knows not law. Sin 
is a transgression of law. Therefore a babe 
needs not this new birth. 

God planted two trees — the tree of knowl- 
edge of good and evil and the tree of life — in 
the garden of Eden. Adam, the father of all, 
ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of 
good and evil, and for his disobedience was 
driven from the garden. It seems that the 
tree of life bore fruit, of which if a man con- 
tinued to eat he would not die. He being 
taken from this tree, physical death was the 
result. He was in a sense physically dead, be- 
cause his access to this tree was cut off. There 
was no chance for him to return. No law of 
pardon at this time. 

Adam's disobedience resulted in a physical 
death to all of his race, because taken from 



10 The Plan of Salvation. 

the tree of life. The effect of Adam's sin puts 
every person in the grave. But through Jesus 
the human family will be raised. So there is a 
fixed penalty and a fixed resurrection. Death 
is a debt that every human being will have to 
pay. But, by the grace of God through Jesus 
Christ, death is only an open door into eter- 
nity. 

Jesus said, "Except a man," referring to all 
mankind and to an age of reason and account- 
ability. It is our own personal disobedience 
that necessitates the new birth. When we ap- 
pear at the judgment bar of God, we will not 
be punished or rewarded for what Adam did. 
The only debt unsettled of Adam's disobe- 
dience is death, and that we must pay. 

Natural birth has its mysteries, but that 
does not prevent new births. We will never 
understand all the deep things about spiritual 
birth, but that will not prevent new births. 
The wisdom and power of God in spiritual law 
for birth is as superior to that of the natural 
as the spiritual is above the natural. The law 
of spiritual birth is as natural to spiritual birth 
as the law of nature is to the natural. 

Jesus, in telling Nicodemus about the birth 
of the Spirit, mentions the wind. It comes and 
goes. We hear its sound, but we cannot tell 
whence it cometh and whither it goeth. We 
can tell the direction it comes and goes in pass- 
ing, but we do not know how long before 



The New Birth. 11 

reaching us it was in a current moving in a 
different direction, nor how high nor how low. 
We do not know how long after it passes be- 
fore it is in a current moving in an opposite 
direction. Who can tell one hour before or 
after the whereabouts of the wind that is now 
passing? 

Remember that the idea of a new birth was 
new teaching for the world at that time. Je- 
sus makes mention of the wind to teach that 
the birth of the Spirit is invisible; that man 
can no more see this birth than he can see the 
passing wind. We have never seen our own 
spirit nor the Spirit of God. The kingdom of 
God is not of this world. We have an invisi- 
ble King, kingdom, and birth. 

Jesus taught much by analogy. In speak- 
ing of the invisible kingdom, he refers to nat- 
ural, material objects, that we might get the 
idea of the ruling principles of the kingdom. 
He mentions "a mustard seed," "pearl of 
great price," "marriage of a king's son," "man 
traveling into a far country," "talents," and 
so on, each one explaining something of God's 
love and mercy and man's responsibility and 
reward for labor. 

Mankind is divided into two classes — the 
ins and outs. All men, whether in the king- 
dom or out, are subjects of the final result of 
a judgment. God rules the world, and the 
man that will not be ruled in obedience will 



12 The Plan of Salvation. 

be ruled in punishment. This kingdom is not 
marked off by geographical lines, but by lines 
of uprightness and godliness, thereby making 
a separation of the obedient and disobedient. 

The gospel tells how to enter the kingdom 
and what to do after entering. This kingdom 
is not carried from one country or community 
to another as a visible object; but the gospel, 
the principles of the kingdom, must be carried. 
Principles have not bodily form. Their force 
and power can be heard and felt as the passing 
wind, but you cannot see them. We can only 
feel and observe the effects. "So is every one 
that is born of the Spirit." 

Nicodemus thought of a visible birth, and 
Jesus, to correct this, mentions the wind and 
its mysterious movements. 

A man born of the Spirit can no more see 
the mighty workings of God in this birth than 
the man in the field could see the wind. It is 
invisible, takes place by an invisible power, 
and born into an invisible kingdom. 



The Begetting Power — The Gospel. 13 



CHAPTER II. 



THE BEGETTING POWER— THE 
GOSPEL. 



Birth in no case imparts life. There is life 
before birth. Birth is the change of a living 
being from one stage of existence into an- 
other. This is true of the natural and also of 
the spiritual. The imparting or beginning of 
life is in the begetting. 

God has law and order in everything. He 
has given germs of spiritual life in his ap- 
pointed way, just as he has given germs of 
natural life. Both are by law and are won- 
derful. We, like Nicodemus, marvel at the 
mystery of a new birth, but such is the power 
of God. 

"For though ye have ten thousand instruct- 
ors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: 
for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you 
through the gospel. " (1 Cor. 4:15.) Notice: 
One Father; begotten in Christ Jesus; Paul, 
the agent; the gospel, the power or seed. 
(Luke 8: 11.) 

"Go ye into all the world, and preach the 
gospel to every creature/' Has the gospel 



14 The Plan of Salvation. 

anything to do with salvation? Has it any 
power? "For I am not ashamed of the gospel 
of Christ : for it is the power of God unto sal- 
vation to every one that believeth; to the Jew 
first, and also to the Greek." (Rom. 1: 16.) 
It is the power, not a power. Power of whom? 
"Of God." Power for what? "Unto salva- 
tion/' For whom? "Every one that believ- 
eth." The gospel has commands; and when 
obeyed, you have used the power of God in 
the gospel for salvation. Spiritual life comes 
through the gospel, the law of life. 

"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh 
profiteth nothing : the words that I speak unto 
you, they are spirit, and they are life." (John 
6: 63.) There is life, there is spirit, there is 
power in the word of God. When this old 
world is fired by the eternal powers of God 
and burned up, the word of God will be living. 
We are certain two things will survive the de- 
struction and pass into the next world — our 
character and the word of God. 

The gospel of Jesus Christ is a living word. 
It has living principles, and is the power of 
God formulated into law. The written word 
is the expression of the principles that God has 
put forth for man's redemption. The Code of 
Georgia is a written book, but the book itself 
is not law, but the principles it contains. Just 
so with the written word of God. The Spirit 
and power of God for new life is in it. The 



The Begetting Power — The Gospel. 15 

virtue of the gospel is not in the ink and paper 
upon which it is written, but in God. So it 
matters not in what language it is written; if 
the facts and their order are preserved as 
given by inspiration, it remains the one and 
the same gospel. When we refer to the gos- 
pel and its power, we mean the eternal truths 
of God in the New Testament. 

'Tor the word of God is quick, and pow- 
erful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, 
piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul 
and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and 
is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of 
the heart." (Heb. 4: 12.) The body goes to 
dust and the spirit to God. There is a separa- 
tion of the joints and marrow — "dividing 
asunder/' How is this done? By the word 
of God. His word is law expressed. 

Jesus said a sower went out to sow seed. 
He tells where the seed fell and the results. 
In his explanation of the parable he says the 
seed is the word of God and the field is the 
world. One object of the parable is to teach 
man to give the seed an opportunity; hence 
the warning: "He that hath ears to hear, let 
him hear." Jesus told the results of the sow- 
ing to teach man the adversities, devouring 
enemies, and hindrances to a growth and per- 
fection of the natural grain, and that the spir- 
itual seed and their growth and perfection of 
fruit in the life have hindering causes. Spir- 



16 The Plan of Salvation. 

itual seed are to grow up in the life of man 
and bear fruit, as the natural grain grow up 
from the soil. The seed sown by the sower 
were the same in kind, but the unfavorable 
conditions of the soil and want of cultivation 
prevented a general harvest. 

"The good ground is he that heareth the 
word, and understandeth it." He gives heed 
to the word, and thereby learns the value of 
obedience. Such a man brings forth fruit, and 
is commended by the Master. Jesus does not 
teach that the created condition of man is like 
the fruitful and unfruitful conditions of the 
soil, but that without proper understanding, 
care, and cultivation they would prove them- 
selves to be as the unfruitful soil. A harvest 
is what the sower wants. That is why he 
sows. Man can, by his carelessness, negli- 
gence, and resentfulness, prove himself to be 
like the unfruitful soil. This is the lesson, and 
Jesus asked them to hear it. 

The germ of life is deposited in natural seed 
and not in the soil. Yet the soil is necessary 
for its growth and perfection. The life germ 
of spiritual life is in the seed of the kingdom 
of God. The fruit grown is as natural to the 
seed as that which grow of wheat is to its seed. 
The seed represent the truths, the facts, the 
principles of the law of the kingdom of God. 
The seed must fall in heart soil in order to 
have a spiritual harvest. It is just as impossi- 



The Begetting Power — The Gospel. 17 

ble for a man to be begotten into new life with- 
out the seed of the kingdom as it is in nature. 
The heart is the seed bed. Out of it are the 
issues of life. Set right the heart, and that 
corrects the life. 

In order to have a begetting there must be a 
cohabitation. This is true of the vegetable 
kingdom, the human family, and spiritual 
birth. This law stands between the sinner 
and the kingdom of God, just as the law of 
nature stands between the unborn- and the 
kingdom of man. There is nothing so power- 
ful, so sacred as the word of the living God. 
By his word he can shake the earth, crumble 
mountains, and fire the seas. Man's exalted 
position in creation is proof of a spiritual cre- 
ative demand, and this demand is fully met in 
the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is higher, no- 
bler, and more perfect than all other provi- 
sions made for man. 

What could the apostles or any other set of 
men do without the seed of the kingdom? 
Take away the word of God, and you take 
away the plan of salvation. Take away the 
word of God, and you take away man's guide 
to the Savior. When the seed of the kingdom 
is conceived in the heart, a soul is begotten — 
a new life begun. "How can a man believe in 
him of whom he has not heard? " Preaching 
the gospel is seed sowing. Man's creative 
spiritual possibility would be a blank without 



18 The Plan of Salvation. 

the word of God, and the gospel would be a 
failure without the existence of such a possi- 
bility. 

Seed and their law of production is a won- 
derful thought. To every seed is given its 
own body. It matters not how small, it has a 
place and a mission in the world. The seed 
of the kingdom have a mission far more im- 
portant. New life thoughts and principles are 
implanted in the heart, and spiritual fruit 
ripen in the life. 

You may admire the symmetry, fragrance, 
and beauty of plants and flowers, but a life 
beautified by heavenly graces is God's chief 
delight. Flowers were made for man to ad- 
mire, but the fruits of spiritual life are for 
time and eternity, the most valuable produc- 
tion that will ever grow. 

Man can as easily walk to the moon as he 
can go to heaven without the seed of the king- 
dom in the heart. The world would be per- 
fectly helpless without the word of God. The 
gospel has a wonderful power in it, and that 
is why God ordained that it should be 
preached. It is the sword of the Spirit, and 
the first thing pierced in the heart is: "God so 
loved the world." There is no rock crusher 
so powerful as the love of God. It is a silent, 
gentle power, but has crushed many stony 
hearts. 

Men before they accept the teachings of 



The Begetting Power — The Gospel. 19 

God are natural men — carnal-minded, not sub- 
ject to the law of God. Such minds are to be 
changed or renewed, and the gospel is the 
power. Light comes by the entrance of God's 
word. "Go ye therefore and teach all nations." 
The object of teaching is to instruct, and by in- 
struction the carnal mind is enlightened, there- 
by becomes subject to the law of God. No 
man is a prepared subject of the law until 
taught. Men that were dead in trespasses and 
sins when the gospel came to them were cer- 
tainly carnal-minded, and, according to gospel 
record, they were changed and became subjects 
of God's law and obeyed it. 

God does not save men independent of the 
gospel. The plan of salvation is in and through 
the gospel and not on the outside. The first 
impressive touch of power divine is made by 
reaching the heart with the seed of the king- 
dom. Spiritual seed have spiritual life germs ; 
and when they germinate in the heart, then the 
first stage of new life is begun. Evil seed have 
their growth in like manner. The youth of our 
land suffer from the evil teachings of books 
filled with the seed of highway wickedness. 
Wickedness and righteousness have their be- 
ginning or infant stage and grow from seed. 
First the sowing, then the stalk, then the blade, 
then the ear. 



20 The Plan of Salvation. 



CHAPTER III. 



FAITH. 



God has given evidence of his power and 
wisdom in both natural and divine law. His 
teachings in all ages have been to prepare man 
for a greater usefulness and blessings. There 
is something greater for man than the present 
world affords. God's approach upon the hu- 
man family has been through revealed truth. 
His word consists of facts divinely attested by 
miracles, the idea being to lay a foundation for 
man's belief — something by which he can take 
hold, something about which he may reason. 

The natural disposition of fair-minded men 
is to reason with given evidence. As man is 
the only creature of earth that is able to con- 
sider the wonderful works of God in creation, 
God has by that means put his work of crea- 
tion in evidence for man to realize the won- 
derful power of his Creator. This evidence of 
supernatural power no man has been able to 
explain away satisfactory to himself nor to 
any one else. 

If God made one grain of sand, he made the 
mountains; if he made one drop of water, he 



Faith. 21 

made the oceans; if he can create worlds, he 
can make a heaven; if he can by natural law 
people the earth, he can by spiritual law pre- 
pare man for a spiritual eternity. From ob- 
jects grand and momentous to the sublime and 
glorious is the span of faith. 

The evidence of God is his plowshare to pre- 
pare heart soil for the seed of the kingdom. 
God has never required man to believe without 
first giving evidence, telling him what to be- 
lieve and what to do. "He that cometh to God 
must believe that he is, and that he is a re- 
warder of them that diligently seek him." God 
has come to man with evidence, commands, 
and promises. Man meets God in obedience. 

Faith within itself is not a self-generating 
principle, but the result of facts and causes of 
God's power and teachings brought to man's 
consideration and knowledge. Unless there is 
something to believe, man cannot believe. 
There must be something to believe, and man 
must have knowledge of what he is to believe. 

How, then, does faith come? "So then faith 
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of 
God." In the word of God there is something 
to be heard, and faith comes by hearing his 
word. Man is to hear understandingly, right- 
ly considering the word of God in the light of 
evidence and reason. It is not by some ab- 
stract influence independent of the word of 
God. 



22 The Plan of Salvation. 

In natural life there is first a begetting, and 
this first stage continues to live and grow until 
birth and then emerges into future life. So the 
spiritual begotten of God is to grow until spir- 
itual birth into the kingdom of God ; and, as a 
new-born babe, the milk of the gospel is neces- 
sary for future growth, the first stage of spir- 
itual existence developing and living. 

We do not beget ourselves. The gospel is 
to be heard. Man is to believe it. God begets 
through his law. This is a fixed law, the same 
as the begetting by his natural law. We are 
spiritually begotten when the spiritual seed 
of the kingdom is conceived in the heart, but 
a spiritual growth must be made before there 
can be a spiritual birth. A natural child after 
it is begotten must grow before birth. 

The natural child has no will, no knowledge 
of its being begotten, growth, and birth. In 
spiritual begetting, growth, and birth the rea- 
soning power of man is addressed, and he is 
required to act according to the law of life in 
the gospel. It is with all thy heart, soul, mind, 
and strength. 

The Bible is not a dictionary, but Paul de- 
fines faith: "The substance of things hoped 
for, the evidence of things not seen." Invis- 
ible promises are made visible by faith. It has 
a substance by which future joys are made so 
certain that a hope is created. When a man 



Faith. 23 

believes God, the future, with its promises, is 
evidence, although unseen. 

"Through faith we understand that the 
worlds were framed by the word of God/' We 
know that worlds exist, but were not eyewit- 
nesses of the creation. We have not seen God ; 
neither have we seen Jesus Christ. We have 
never witnessed a resurrection, but others 
have. There are many things in our native 
State we have not seen, but others have. We 
see a part of what has been written in the Book 
with the natural eye, and that which we do not 
see we accept as true from what we do see. 
The evidence in what we do see causes us to 
believe in things not seen. 

In order that we may better understand the 
nature and working power of faith, we call 
your attention to a few examples. 

On one occasion there was a man who had 
palsy. He was carried by some parties to the 
place where Jesus was stopping. The press 
was so great they could not get close to him. 
They went upon the house top, tore up the roof, 
and let the sick man down in his presence. 
When Jesus saw their faith, he saith unto him : 
"Man, thy sins are forgiven thee." What did 
Jesus see? Their faith. It was seen in their 
efforts to get the sick man to the Master. The 
sick man, no doubt, was anxious to go. Jesus 
had been healing, and this evidence of his 
power produced their activity. 



24 The Plan of Salvation. 

The same is true of the sinner zvoman who 
washed the Savior's feet with her tears and 
did wipe them with the hairs of her head. 
Faith takes place in the heart, and is not seen 
until expressed in action. A still faith is a 
dead faith. 

"By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, 
after they were compassed about seven days." 
If they had marched around but once, would 
the walls have fallen? By faith they did as 
commanded. We may not understand why 
certain requirements are made in order to 
bring about certain things, but we must trust 
God for the results. One of the evidences of 
faith is trust. No doubt, from a human stand- 
point, it seemed impossible to them; but God's 
power was trusted by doing what they were 
commanded. If they had marched around the 
walls seven times the first day and once the sev- 
enth day, the walls would not have fallen. Un- 
less we do exactly as commanded, it is not by 
. faith. 

When God promises man a blessing and tells 
him what to do, it is by faith that he expects 
the blessing through obedience. "We walk by 
faith." By faith we go from one command to 
another, enduring the hindrances and unex- 
pected trials. 

"The elders obtained a good report" by faith. 
It is what we do by faith that counts with God 
and makes up the good report. You show us a 



Faith. 25 

man of great faith, and we will show you some- 
thing that he is doing. It is by faith we obey, 
expecting the unseen promises. "Without 
faith it is impossible to please God" — impossi- 
ble because without it man cannot and will not 
obey God. 



26 The Plan of Salvation. 



CHAPTER IV. 



FAITH— CONTINUED. 



Paul, in his writings, shows the relation of 
faith to the law of works given by Moses. 
"The righteousness of God through Jesus 
Christ was declared that he might be just and 
the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." 
It is not by our righteousness that salvation 
came, but by his. By his atonement, condi- 
tional terms of pardon were made for us, and 
that without any work on our part. 

It is by grace. "Being justified freely by his 
grace through the redemption that is in Christ 
Jesus." Grace is one among the first causes in 
man's justification. Some have the idea that it 
is mysteriously infused into the heart by a di- 
rect operation of God, when really it is an op- 
portunity given man through Jesus Christ. 
"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation 
hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, de- 
nying unrighteousness and worldly lusts, we 
should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in 
this present world." (Tit. 2: 11, 12.) The 
grace of God comes with teachings and com- 
mands. When we accept the teachings and 



Faith — Continued. 27 

obey the commands, we accept the grace given 
us through Jesus Christ. 

Abraham is the representative character of 
the faithful. Adam is the representative char- 
acter of the human family, by whose offense 
judgment came upon all men to condemnation. 
"By the righteousness of one the free gift 
came upon all men unto justification of life." 
Adam's guilt had not been canceled. The 
whole world was under condemnation from 
this guilt. Jesus made atonement for all ages 
and all people. All the money of earth and all 
the works of all men combined cannot make 
or purchase atonement for sin; therefore it is 
by grace of God through Jesus Christ. It is 
true that death was passed upon all men, but 
the death of all men cannot atone for sin. 

Under the law of Moses it was a matter of 
works — that of offering their own sacrifice of 
animals for sin. Christ has once for all made 
the offering for sin. Our only plea is Jesus 
Christ. He made the only sacrifice possible to 
take away sin. When we accept Christ, we 
accept his righteousness for our sins, and the 
Father accepts it as our righteousness, because 
we have accepted his Son. We accept Christ by 
doing the commands which God has made 
the conditions of salvation from our own per- 
sonal guilt. The law of pardon is the out- 
growth of the righteous sacrifice of Jesus. In 
order for man to get to the Father for pardon, 



28 The Plan of Salvation. 

he must go to him through the merits of the 
blood of Jesus Christ. 

"Where is boasting then? It is excluded. 
By what law ? of works ? Nay ; but by the law 
of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man 
is justified by faith without the deeds of the 
law. For if they which are of the law be heirs, 
faith is made void, and the promise made of 
no effect. For the promise, that he should be 
heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to 
his seed, through the law, but through the 
righteousness of faith." 

The law of Moses was not of faith. It was 
never intended to take away sin. Not of faith, 
because Abraham looked beyond to the day of 
Christ. He saw the day of Christ and rejoiced. 
The law of Moses was no part of the promise 
to Abraham, but was introduced between the 
time of promise and its fulfillment. Sin set 
forth by law, and the impossibility of the blood 
of bulls and goats to take away sin, was God's 
way of teaching the world the need of a sacri- 
fice that could really take away sin. The law 
was a schoolmaster. 

It mattered not how anxious to be freed of sin 
and its memory, it could not be done under the 
law. There is no justification in the law of 
Moses for its atonement, for sin is defective. 
So the writer carries us back to the time of 
Abraham, who had faith in the promise of the 
coming Christ, who should be a blessing to all 



Faith — Continued. 29 

nations. Abraham was justified through the 
righteousness of faith, without the works of 
the law, and so are we. 

"By faith Abraham, when he was called to 
go out into a place which he should after re- 
ceive for an inheritance, obeyed/' (Heb. 11: 
8.) The necessity of obeying the commands 
is really a part of what he believed. His faith 
began with the promise and reached through 
the commands to the blessing. This is the kind 
of faith that justifies. He saw the blessings 
through obedience. The same is true to-day. 

Abraham offered Isaac, and Paul says that 
it was "by faith." (Heb. 11: 17.) James 
says "by works" he was justified. (James 2: 
21.) How justified by faith and works? He 
believed that God would raise Isaac from the 
dead if slain. He believed that God would 
make good his promise with reference to his 
seed. He did what God told him. The deeds 
that James calls "works" were performed by 
faith. James tells what was done; Paul tells 
how done — by faith. James refers to the exe- 
cution of the commands; Paul refers to the 
principle by which the commands were exe- 
cuted. Obeying commands is the execution of 
faith. We are justified by faith when the faith 
works, and the work is done. "By faith the 
walls of Jericho fell" — when the work was 
done. "By faith Moses, when he was born, 



30 The Plan of Salvation. 

was hid three months." Leave off the hiding, 
and what would have become of little Moses ? 

The gospel compared to the law of Moses is 
not of works, but of grace — by grace through 
faith. By grace the law of pardon through 
Jesus Christ was given. And by faith we obey 
the commands of the law of pardon. That 
which man is required to do, compared to what 
God has done through Jesus Christ for man's 
justification, makes it by grace and not of 
works. But without obedience there is no life 
in the faith, and the grace of God disowned. 
Faith without works is dead, just as the body 
of man is dead without the spirit of life. 

The children of Israel reached the Red Sea, 
with the enemy behind them. They were told 
to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. 
What did they see? The waters of the sea 
were divided. "By faith they passed through 
the Red Sea as by dry land." Salvation was 
provided for them without any work on their 
part. The same is true of the justification 
of the blood of Jesus Christ. 

Suppose the children of Israel had stood still 
on the banks after the waters were divided, 
making no effort to cross, would they have been 
delivered? The same is true of gospel salva- 
tion "by faith" and "by grace." "By faith 
they passed through." They believed God 
would hold back the walls of water until they 
could cross. Their work was to march in the 



Faith — Continued. 31 

way of salvation. But what they had to do, 
compared with what the Lord had done for 
them, makes it by grace. If they had been re- 
quired to turn the stream or dip the stream dry, 
they would have had something to do worthy 
of boasting. The same is true of gospel sal- 
vation. 

Faith is the bedrock condition of man's jus- 
tification, for it is the great moving principle 
of man. But the Book does not teach that jus- 
tification is by faith only, nor by grace only, 
nor by his blood only; but it does teach that 
man is justified by faith, by grace, by his blood, 
by his resurrection. We are saved by the 
mercy of God, by repentance, by baptism, by 
hope; and still there are other elements in the 
gospel that saves. Each one is an important 
link in the chain of salvation. You may have 
all faith, so that you could remove mountains, 
and have not love, you are nothing. A faith 
that worketh by love counts for something. If 
faith only would justify, the devils would be 
justified, for they believe and tremble. 

Paul was a mighty worker. No man ever 
planted the flag of purity of heart and life, per- 
sonal responsibility, and the reward of labor 
higher than he. No soldier of the cross ever 
left the battlefield with as many stripes and 
wounds. No man ever sounded the depths of 
poverty and shame deeper than he in order to 
preach the gospel. He was allowed to write his 



32 The Plan of Salvation. 

own epitaph. "I have fought a good fight, I 
have kept the faith." Amid the trials of life 
he was true to the gospel calls of duty. By 
faith he was permitted to see the silver blos- 
soms and golden fruit that hang along the road 
to the city of God. 



Faith — Concluded. 33 



CHAPTER V. 



FAITH— CONCLUDED. 



Faith and works are so related, so vitally 
connected, that either alone is a failure. If a 
man were to tell you that he had faith in Je- 
sus Christ and does not the things commanded, 
you would doubt his faith. If he should go 
through the form of obedience and deny that 
Jesus is the Son of God, his work would be a 
failure. It would be mockery. Whatsoever is 
not of faith is sin. Without faith there can be 
no obedience. 

When Jesus promised eternal life to whoso- 
ever believeth in him, as in John 3: 15, 16, he 
includes the whole plan of salvation. Faith is 
often used in a generic sense. A man that be- 
lieves in Jesus believes in his mission, com- 
mands, and promises. "And all that believed 
were together, and had all things common." 
(Acts 2: 44.) They had obeyed the law of 
pardon. 

Abraham believed God and obeyed, and he 

was justified by the righteousness of faith. 

But the moment you cut off his obedience you 

kill his righteous faith. If works make faith 

3 



34 The Plan of Salvation. 

perfect, without works it is imperfect. "Even 
so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being 
alone." A dead faith cannot be a justifying 
faith. 

So when Jesus promises eternal life to who- 
soever believeth in him, he means that a man 
must execute his faith in obeying the com- 
mands given by the Master. The commission 
that Jesus gave the apostles is not a conflict 
with John 3: 15, 16, but an unfolding. "He 
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; 
but he that believeth not shall be damned." 
Why the unbeliever condemned? Because it is 
impossible for such a one to obey. 

"For ye are all the children of God by faith 
in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have 
been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." 
(Gal. 3: 26, 27.) Verse 27 explains how they 
were children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. 
Leave off verse 27, and you leave them with- 
out putting on Christ. A faith by which we 
become the children of God is one that leads 
us through obedience. 

"By faith Noah, being warned of God of 
things not seen as yet, moved with fear, pre- 
pared an ark to the saving of his house ; by the 
which he condemned the world, and became 
heir of the righteousness which is by faith." 
(Heb. 11: 7.) God told Noah of the flood 
and what to do to be prepared. This he be- 
lieved, and did what he believed, and became 



Faith — Concluded. 35 

.an heir of righteousness "which is by faith." 
Where did his faith begin and end ? God told 
him of something not yet seen, and he believed 
it, which is the beginning. After the ark was 
built and the flood over and his life saved, the 
writer says that it was "by faith." But, re- 
member, there were one hundred and twenty 
years' work in this faith. This is the kind 
of faith that justifies. Did Noah build the ark 
because he was already saved ? No, he had the 
promise of salvation; but the promise made 
was conditioned on his building the ark, and he 
did the work by faith. 

"Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." 
The Lord gave him the instruction that made 
it possible for him to save his life. Noah ac- 
cepted this grace, and by faith worked "accord- 
ing to all that God commanded him, so did he." 
(Gen. 6: 22.) It took grace, faith, and works 
to build the ark; yet the writer says "by faith," 
because it is the moving power. 

Suppose Noah had left off building the ark, 
"faith only" would not have saved him. It is 
true that this occurred many years before New 
Testament times, but New Testament faith is 
the same, for it explains faith by this occur- 
rence. Without the obedience of Noah, the 
grace of God would have been refused and his 
faith dead and worthless. The same is true 
of Paul's statement: "Therefore being justi- 
fied by faith." It is by faith that a man's work 



36 The Plan of Salvation. 

is justified, and it is by works that a man's 
faith is justified. A faith that worketh by love 
leads to the highest order of obedience. 
Stronger the faith, greater the love; greater 
the love, stronger the faith. The Master's 
meat and drink was to do his Father's will. He 
had faith in the Father and loved him. 

We are told of a second destruction, which 
will be by fire. We, like Noah, have been told 
what to do. If we obey, it will be a salvation 
by grace through faith. Taking God at his 
word, doing what he commands, expecting the 
blessings, is a faith that justifies. This is the 
Bible kind — this is the kind upon which Je- 
sus promises eternal life to whosoever believ- 
eth in him. 

Man is not a justified believer until he obeys 
the commands that God has given for justifi- 
cation. Noah was not a justified believer un- 
til he had put one hundred and twenty years' 
work in the commands. By faith his works 
were justified, and by his works his faith made 
perfect. The blind man who had faith in Je- 
sus went to the pool of Siloam as commanded 
and washed, but he was not justified until he 
had washed, and would not have been unless 
he had gone and washed his eyes in that par- 
ticular pool. By doing what Jesus commanded 
is believing in Jesus. 

Faith makes a man bold in performance of 
duty. Fiery furnaces and darkened dungeons 



Faith — Concluded. 37 

are only a resting place. Violent threats, 
heated and hasty commands do not disturb. 
Opposition and persecution may come, but an 
ironclad faith in God's promises holds a man 
steady to the shore of eternal happiness. The 
victory is by faith. It puts the stamina of en- 
durance into man. Faith is first and last, and 
runs through all commands. Obedience will 
not run without it. "Be thou faithful unto 
death, and I will give thee a crown of life." 



38 The Plan of Salvation. 



CHAPTER VI. 



REPENTANCE. 



Remember that the begotten of nature has 
growth before birth. Nature's law is adapted 
to give support to its begotten; so is the gos- 
pel, the law of spiritual birth, adapted to the 
support and growth of its begotten. 

There is a law for natural birth, and there 
is a law for spiritual birth. Every command 
of God has a provision furnished for its ac- 
ceptance and obedience. God did not command 
us to believe until he furnished the evidence 
for belief and what to believe. His commands 
are made within the scope of evidence. 

When a man believes, and not until then, 
does he see the goodness of God and his own 
sinfulness and lost condition. This informa- 
tion comes to him through the word of God, 
and before there can be a conviction of sin he 
must believe it. Paul says the goodness of God 
leads to repentance. But how could a man 
know of the goodness of God in salvation and 
his own sinfulness unless he knows something 
of the word of God and believes it ? 

So when a man is commanded to repent, the 



Repentance. 39 

result of belief prepares him or places him in 
position to obey the command. We wish you 
to notice this preparation in the arrangement 
of God's commands. They are arranged in a 
consecutive order, just as the law of nature, 
for growth and natural birth. 

The commands of God are not given in a 
reckless, meaningless way, without design and 
purpose, but with a dye as deep and as un- 
changeable as nature's law. Without this 
preparation, which is self-producing in the law 
of God, it is impossible to obey. How could a 
man repent that does not believe ? It is as easy 
for a dead man to repent as it would be for a 
live man who does not believe. How can a 
man believe in him "of whom he has not 
heard?" What would such a man know about 
repentance? Between each command obeyed 
there is a result or growth that prepares for 
the next. The result from the obedience of the 
first command prepares for the second, and 
so on. 

When a man is taught the gospel, he sees 
God in his purity; he sees Jesus Christ at the 
right hand of the Father crowned King; he 
sees a power that outnumbers all combined 
armies of earth; he sees a justice from which 
no man can escape; he sees the mercy and 
goodness of God spreading over the wide 
world; he sees a love that washes every shore 
of humanity; he sees a righteous judgment that 



40 The Plan of Salvation. 

is as deep as the lowest pits of hell and as high 
as the pinnacle of heaven. With this vision of 
the word of God, he begins to feel and see how 
unworthy his life has been; that he has been 
giving stones for bread. 

"Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness 
and forbearance and long-suffering ; not know- 
ing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to 
repentance?" (Rom. 2: 4.) "Now I rejoice, 
not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sor- 
rowed to repentance. . . . For godly sor- 
row worketh repentance to salvation not to be 
repented of." (2 Cor. 7: 9, 10.) The good- 
ness of God is manifest in the plan of salva- 
tion, and is calculated to arouse a new disposi- 
tion and feeling toward God for his forbear- 
ance and long-suffering. 

G.odly sorrow is produced by having knowl- 
edge of the goodness of God and a realization 
of gross disobedience to the commands of God, 
who has so richly blessed us with spiritual op- 
portunities. This godly sorrow produces a 
restless disposition, an uneasiness, discontent- 
ment, and a desire to be freed of a heavy bur- 
den. Godly sorrow cannot be produced with- 
out the existence of belief first. 

Remember that godly sorrow for sin is not 
repentance, but "worketh repentance;" that 
without godly sorrow there is no repentance — 
it must precede. Do you not see the interven- 
ing growth between belief and repentance ? 



Repentance. 41 

On the day of Pentecost (Acts 2: 38) Peter 
told those people about the goodness of God in 
blessing the world by giving to it a Savior, and 
that they had by wicked hands crucified the 
Lord, and they believed what Peter said; the 
piercing testimony pricked their hearts, and 
thev cried out: "Men and brethren, what shall 
we do? " Peter said: "Repent/' 

Let us take an example to arrive at the defi- 
nition of the word. "But what think ye? A 
certain man had two sons ; and he came to the 
first, and said, Son, go work to-day in my vine- 
yard. He answered and said, I will not: but 
afterward he repented, and went. And he 
came to the second, and said likewise. And 
he answered and said, I go, sir : and went not." 
(Matt. 21: 28-30.) 

What did the first son say? That he would 
not go. No doubt he thought of the hardships 
connected with the vineyard, and possibly the 
pleasures that he would miss at home. All this 
was too great for him at that time. 

After the father left, he, no doubt, thought 
of the injustice and began to feel sorry for his 
conduct. After thinking it over, he "repented, 
and went." What did he do? He changed his 
mind, his purpose. What he first refused to 
do he is now willing to do. Note, he "re- 
pented" and w r ent. His going is not a part of 
his repentance, but a result. He repented, and 
the going follows. 



42 The Plan of Salvation. 

When our Heavenly Father comes to us tell- 
ing us to give up sinful pleasures and the love 
and works of the world and do the work in his 
vineyard, we, too, are put to a test like the first 
son. A decision is to be made. 

Repentance is a make up of mind to forsake 
the wrong and do the right. Every command 
has choice in it. When a man repents, he has 
a mind made up to a full and complete surren- 
der of his own will and a full acceptance of the 
will of God. It is not a few resolutions, but a 
mind made up like flint and steel against the 
wrong and for the right. 

If the first son had gone and worked at first, 
repent would not have been in it. We have 
treated our Heavenly Father like these two 
sons. Some repent and go work; others never 
enter the vineyard. "Go and work" was the 
command. We repeat, when this son repented 
he had not gone. He had only settled in mind 
to go and work. The going and work come 
after his repentance. 

We find in the Book where it is stated that 
"God repented." God pronounced a destruc- 
tion upon Nineveh, but they repented at the 
preaching of Jonah. They made up their 
minds to serve God — to turn from their evil 
ways. What they did was the fruits of their 
repentance. Then God repented — he changed 
his purpose, his decree. Man by his obedience 
or his disobedience changes his relation to God. 



Repentance. 43 

It is pleasing to God for man to obey. When 
the world became so wicked that God repented 
that he had made man, it grieved him at heart. 

"For ye know how that afterward, when he 
would have inherited the blessing, he was re- 
jected: for he found no place of repentance, 
though he sought it carefully with tears." 
(Heb. 12: 17.) Esau had sold his birthright. 
He afterwards realized its worth and saw his 
mistake. Isaac, his father, had pronounced 
the blessing upon Jacob. When Isaac found 
out the mistake, he trembled very exceedingly. 
"Esau sought repentance with tears, but found 
none." What did Esau do? He went to his 
father, crying and begging him to bless him. 
He wanted his father to change his mind and 
give him the blessing. This is what he sought 
with tears. He was seeking to change the mind 
of his father. 

"Well," says one, "does not repentance come 
before belief?" and quotes Mark 1: 15: "The 
time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at 
hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." John 
the Baptist stood between the going out of the 
law and the coming in of the new kingdom. 
His work was "to make ready a people pre- 
pared for the Lord." John, by his work and 
teaching, persuaded many of the coming 
Christ. Their repentance and baptism was a 
heart-and-life preparation and a test of their 
belief in the coming Savior. "John verily bap- 



44 The Plan of Salvation. 

tized with the baptism of repentance, saying 
unto the people, that they should believe on him 
which should come after him, that is, on Christ 
Jesus." (Acts 19: 4.) When Jesus came, de- 
livered his gospel, and the kingdom was set up, 
belief in him comes first. We are to believe in 
him who has come. 

Repentance is not prayer. Some seem to 
think the question of salvation can be settled 
by asking God to forgive them, believing that 
when it is done it is done. Under the new dis- 
pensation we find no such authority for an 
alien sinner. 

In the book of Acts, the book of conversions, 
we find over twenty cases. At this time the 
apostles are out preaching the doctrine of the 
kingdom, men being convicted of sin, asking 
what to do to be saved. Not one is told to pray. 
Did not the apostles believe in prayer? Cer- 
tainly. They taught that all men should be 
prayed for; but they did not teach, nor did 
they pray, that God might speak peace and 
pardon to their souls before they obeyed the 
gospel. Why not? They had no such instruc- 
tions for salvation. They had the gospel, 
which has commands to be obeyed in order to 
have salvation from past sins. We know of 
no set of men that could prevail with God in 
prayer more than the apostles, but they did not 
call men around them and tell them to pray 



Repentance. 45 

earnestly for pardon, and they would also ask 
God to speak peace and pardon to their souls. 

Paul said: "Knowing the terror of the Lord, 
we persuade men." We do not believe that 
God has to be plead with and be persuaded by 
the pleadings of man to make God willing to 
save man. God is ready, willing, and anxious 
to save man. He wants man to obey the com- 
mands given for that purpose. Man is the one 
that needs to change, and the gospel is the 
power. He is to obey the gospel, and that was 
what Paul persuaded men to do. 

The apostles did not seem to know anything 
about praying a man "through." We have 
seen men brought to weeping by hearing the 
tender appeals of God through the gospel, and 
then honest men pray that God speak peace 
and pardon to their souls before obeying the 
conditions of pardon. 

It is true that when a godly man is pleading, 
expressing his desire for salvation of sinners, 
that serious, sober thoughts are brought to 
bear upon the sinner's heart. When a godly 
man is talking to God in tenderness in behalf 
of a man's soul, the man listening may be 
deeply impressed with the desire and need of 
salvation. But such pleadings are not for 
God to become willing to save, but for man to 
take God at his word and do his will — that 
God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 



46 The Plan of Salvation. 

The divine plan is that the gospel be preached, 
believed, and obeyed. 

We have seen stout-hearted men weep and 
agonize at the altar. This is the work of godly 
sorrow that worketh repentance, and is often 
mistaken for conversion. There must be a con- 
viction of sin and a godly sorrow before there 
can be a repentance. On the day of Pentecost 
the people were not asked to come for prayers ; 
but when they believed Peter's preaching, they 
cried out: "What shall we do?" Godly sorrow 
was working rapidly upon these people. At 
this stage they were not saved, but only ready 
to repent, and that was the first thing com- 
manded. 

Jesus met Saul on the way to Damascus. 
He had been told to go to this place and there 
he would be told what to do. Saul goes, and 
fasts and prays for three days. Did Jesus tell 
him to do this? We believe that when a man 
finds himself -in the wrong, as did Saul, that 
it is natural for such a man to cry for mercy. 
Such acts are natural for a man passing 
through the stages of godly sorrow. 

Suppose Saul had continued in prayer after 
Ananias had told him what to do, refusing to 
obey as commanded, what would have been the 
result ? So far as we know, he would have died 
outside of the kingdom. Saul might have 
prayed until his hair turned white and all fell 
off, but unless he had obeyed as Ananias com- 



Repentance. 47 

manded, he would have died outside of the 
kingdom. 

"And the times of this ignorance God 
winked at ; but now commandeth all men every- 
where to repent." (Acts 17: 30.) Repentance 
is a commanded duty — something for man to 
do. God does not repent for man, but has 
made it possible for man by gospel law. "All 
men everywhere." How many does that leave 
out? 

How long does it take a man to repent ? On 
the day of Pentecost the three thousand com- 
pleted the requirements of the commission, re- 
pentance being included. Jesus says if thy 
brother trespass against you seven times in one 
day and turn to you and say, "I repent," you 
must forgive him. Repentance does not mean 
a reformation of life, for the time is too short 
for much in the above quotations. It is a de- 
cision for a reformation, and is expected to 
follow. 

When the prodigal son said, "I will arise," 
the experience of so much sorrow helped him 
in making a decision to return to his father's 
house. The circumstances that entered the life 
of this son made up the conditions that worked 
up the change of mind. His condition became 
a burden. To this was added his feeling of un- 
worthiness to return. In all genuine repent- 
ance there is this same experience. Godly sor- 
row works upon man until he desires a change. 



48 The Plan of Salvation. 

When he has fully decided to make the change, 
he has repented. The decision is the turning 
point for a godly life. 

Doing the commands of God is a result of 
repentance. Bringing forth fruit is a proof of 
repentance. The doing is not the decision, but 
the execution. When an alien sinner repents, 
he is not pardoned. He is now willing and 
anxious to do what God requires of him in 
order to be pardoned. He is yet to be born of 
water and of the Spirit to enter the kingdom 
of God. 



The Great Commission. 49 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE GREAT COMMISSION. 



This is the greatest declaration ever made to 
mortal man. It contains the elements and con- 
ditions of salvation. It is the matured pur- 
poses and plan of God for man's redemption. 
The types and shadows of the Old Testament 
point to this time. What follows is the out- 
growth and development of this commission. 

We think an examination of what is known 
as the "great commission" given to the apos- 
tles, and the way each writer states it, will be 
helpful in our understanding the plan of salva- 
tion. 

Matt. 28: 19, 20: "Go ye therefore, and 
teach all nations, baptizing them in the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Spirit/' 

Mark 16: 15, 16: "Go ye into all the 
world, and preach the gospel to every 
creature. He that believeth and is bap- 
tized shall be saved." 

Luke 24: 46, 47: "Thus it is written, 
and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and 
to rise from the dead the third day: and 



50 The Plan of Salvation. 

that repentance and remission of sins 
should be preached in his name among all 
nations, beginning at Jerusalem." 
The conditions of salvation from past sins 
to every creature are the same. The apostles 
were sent to preach "the gospel/' not gospels. 
It is wonderful, for it is the power of God unto 
salvation. God had been maturing his pur- 
poses for ages. Something great had been ac- 
complished for the world. "All power is given 
unto me in heaven and in earth." That means 
something. It is great and glorious to think 
of. The man that tries to change it, rather 
than obey it, will have an awful fate. 

Matthew does not mention belief and re- 
pentance. Mark gives belief and baptism. 
Luke gives repentance and "that remission of 
sins should be preached in his name." We do 
not understand that one was to preach re- 
pentance and leave out baptism; that another 
was to preach baptism and leave out belief and 
repentance. 

The apostles understood the items of the 
commission alike, but it is the will of God that 
it be thus written. One strong proof of the in- 
spiration of the word of God is that the writ- 
ers wrote at different times, lived at different 
times and places, but no contradiction — noth- 
ing in Genesis to contradict the writings of 
Matthew, and so on. 
Suppose Matthew, Mark, and the other writ- 



The Great Commission. 51 

ers of the New Testament had written the same 
things, using the very same words, the world 
would have said some one copied. As it is, 
there is agreement, each supplementing, and 
being so interwoven that we have one gospel, 
requiring what all say, and how they say it, 
to make the one gospel. This is one feature of 
the Scriptures that makes its study attractive. 
Herein is shown the wisdom of God in revela- 
tion. 

The apostles were told to wait at Jerusalem 
until they be endued with power from on high. 
That power came according to promise. The 
Spirit was to bring to their remembrance what- 
soever Jesus had commanded them, guide them 
into all truth, and even show them things to 
come. 

Unto Peter was given the keys of the king- 
dom. He was first to express the conditions 
of entering the kingdom of God. The king- 
dom door was opened that day, and has never 
been closed since. The commission was di- 
vinely attested that the world might know and 
believe that the terms of salvation are God- 
given — substantiating the claim that Jesus had 
made, that he had all power in heaven and 
earth to make such a proclamation for salva- 
tion. 

What did Peter tell those who asked what 
to do? Are we not expected to find the terms 
of salvation as given by Jesus to the apostles 



52 The Plan of Salvation. 

in Peter's answer? May we not even find the 
order of the conditions ? Matthew, Mark, and 
Luke give the items — repentance, baptism, and 
belief — and the promise of salvation. But we 
want to know which comes first, second, and 
third. If we should be able to so find in the 
preaching of the apostles, that should forever 
settle it. If we examine the first admission 
into the kingdom, may we not expect to have 
the answer, and that by divine authority? 

In Acts 2: 14-36 we have a part of Peter's 
sermon. Verse 37 says: "Now when they 
heard this, they were pricked in their heart, 
and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apos- 
tles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?" 
What was it that caused them to ask this ques- 
tion? "Now when they heard this" — that is, 
what Peter had told them concerning Jesus. 
The question was asked because they believed 
what Peter had said. Their hearts were 
pricked, which could not have been unless they 
had believed. You will observe in the answers 
of the apostles throughout their preaching to 
persons asking what to do that the answer is 
made to suit the present condition of the in- 
quirer. 

Peter's answer on the day of Pentecost was : 
"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in 
the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of 
sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy 
Spirit." (Acts 2: 38.) Why not tell them to 



The Great Commission. 53 

pray until the Father assured them that he 
had saved them ? Why not tell them that they 
were already saved, and if they were not, that 
they could do nothing to be saved? Because 
not according to what they were commanded 
to preach. 

The only command given in the commis- 
sion not mentioned in Peter's answer is belief. 
But they had already believed, for they were 
pricked in heart and asked what to do to be 
saved. They could not repent and be baptized 
until they believed. So the order of the com- 
mands are belief, repentance, and baptism. 

Luke says: "That repentance and remission 
of sins should be preached in his name among 
all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." Is not 
"for the remission of sins" (Acts 2: 38) the 
same as Luke's "remission of sins" (Luke 24: 
47) ? Both follow repentance. Luke, instead 
of saying "be baptized," as did Matthew and 
Mark, gives the result, "remission of sins" — 
the same as Mark's salvation. 

Luke says that Jerusalem is the place of 
beginning. Matthew says the end of the world 
is the duration of the commission. Take the 
conditions, time, and place of the commission 
and compare with Peter's answer the time and 
place and conditions, and we have the same 
thing. The anxiety on the part of those on the 
day of Pentecost to know what to do indicates 
an uneasy, restless condition, which, of course, 



54 The Plan of Salvation. 

is the result of believing. So Peter had the 
commission in full that day. 

Belief refers to their accepting the truths of 
God as being true, and their repentance to an 
act of mind, deciding to do what they were 
commanded; so they gladly received the word 
of God and were baptized the same day and 
were added to the saved. (Acts 2: 41.) 
Whose word did they gladly receive? The 
Lord's. Is a man added before his sins are re- 
mitted? How is it in the commission? Salva- 
tion after baptism. Did not Peter place remis- 
sion of sin after baptism? 

Who added them, and how? God does the 
adding through Jesus Christ by his appointed 
law. Children of nature are added to nature's 
kingdom by appointed law. The gospel teaches 
very forcibly the divine elements in salvation. 
But man's obedience is just as clearly and as 
forcibly taught. Without grace, mercy, and 
the blood of Jesus Christ there is no salvation. 
Without faith, repentance, and baptism there 
is no salvation. By uniting human and divine 
agencies, remission of sin is as certain for us 
as it was on the day of Pentecost. 

Had you ever thought about what there is 
in the commission? God so loved the world — 
his mercy, his grace, his Spirit, and Jesus 
Christ, with his life, his death, his blood, his 
resurrection, and all power in heaven and 



The Great Commission. 55 

earth — the commands believe, repent, and bap- 
tism — salvation being the result. 

The cases of pardon during the ministry of 
Jesus on earth were special and not intended 
for models after the kingdom was set up, but 
to prove his Sonship. He performed many 
miracles, and were written that we might be- 
lieve. Some think that they can be saved as 
was the thief on the cross. But this is one of 
the special cases, and occurred before the com- 
mission was given. Suppose the commission 
had been given and the thief was living under 
the new law of pardon given to the apostles, do 
you believe the Lord would have saved him? 
To say that he would conflicts with the plan of 
salvation given the apostles to be preached to 
every creature. The day of special cases is 
past, and every man of every nation is to obey 
the commands alike. The commission is still 
living, and will live as long as the grace of Je- 
sus. 



56 The Plan of Salvation. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



CONVERSION. 



We wish to follow the apostles in their 
teaching the great commission and note some 
of the conversions recorded in Acts of the 
Apostles. This book is the history of their 
first work, forming the first organization of 
the church. Leave out Acts of the Apostles, 
and we would have no exposition of the com- 
mission. It is their superstructure of the com- 
mission. 

Ananias and Saul (Acts 22: 16). — "And 
now why tarriest thou ? arise, and be baptized, 
and wash away thy sins, calling on the name 
of the Lord." We have only one given com- 
mand — "be baptized." When Saul met the 
Lord and heard his voice, he said: "Lord, what 
wilt thou have me to do?" Jesus told him why 
he appeared to him, and then told him to go 
to Damascus and there he would be told what 
to do. Saul went to get the information. 
Proof that Jesus is the Son of God was what 
Saul needed to begin the change; and as soon 
as Jesus made himself known, he had the proof. 

Ananias told him to be baptized. Why not 



Conversion. 57 

tell him to believe and repent? This he had 
done. Baptism was all he needed in order to be 
pardoned. His sins had not been forgiven 
when Ananias went to him, for they were not 
washed away in baptism. The words, "wash 
away thy sins" denote a moving not by water, 
but by obedience to the command ordained of 
God for pardon, he reached the cleansing pow- 
er of the blood of Christ. No man is literally 
washed in the blood of Jesus. Its efficacy, by 
the power of God, is in the commands given 
for man's salvation. The law of pardon is the 
result of his shed blood. 

The Philippian Jailer (Acts 16: 31). — 
The jailer said to Paul and Silas: "Sirs, what 
must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be 
saved, and thy house." This answer, accord- 
ing to the teaching of the Book, is correct. A 
man that believes on the Lord Jesus Christ be- 
lieves his commands and by faith obeys the 
commands, expecting the blessing of salvation. 

What did Paul and Silas do after telling 
him to believe? "And they spake unto him the 
word of the Lord, and to all that were in his 
house." They gave something to be believed 
by speaking to them the word of the Lord. 

And the same hour of the night he and all 
his straightway were baptized. Then the 
jailer brought them into his house, gave them 
something to eat, "and rejoiced, believing in 



58 The Plan of Salvation. 

God with all his house." So their baptism was 
included in their belief on the Lord Jesus 
Christ. Why not rejoice before baptism? 
They were not justified believers until they 
had obeyed. Without faith they could not have 
obeyed, yet it was not by faith only. You leave 
out their baptism, and you put an end to their 
faith and silence their rejoicing. 

On the day of Pentecost they were told to 
repent and be baptized. Ananias told Saul to 
be baptized. The jailer was told to believe. 
Three different answers to the three different 
parties. The apostles knew what answers to 
make. Also did Ananias. We have belief, re- 
pentance, and baptism at Pentecost ; belief, re- 
pentance, and baptism on the part of Saul ; be- 
lief and baptism on the part of the jailer. Do 
you think Paul and Silas left out repentance to 
the jailer? We believe they preached the gos- 
pel plan of salvation, and that repentance was 
included in "the word of the Lord" spoken to 
him. 

Philip and the Eunuch (Acts 8: 28-40). 
— "And as they went on their way, they came 
unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, 
See, here is water ; what doth hinder me to be 
baptized?" How did the eunuch know it is 
necessary? Philip had "preached unto him 
Jesus." (Verse 35.) Nothing is said about 
repentance and belief, but we believe Philip 
preached the gospel. The eunuch's calling 



Conversion. 59 

Philip's attention to "a certain water" is proof 
of a teaching, and also an expression of his 
willingness to obey. 

Philip at Samaria (Acts 8: 5-12). — "But 
when they believed Philip preaching the things 
concerning the kingdom of God, and the name 
of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men 
and women." Do you think Philip left out 
repentance? We believe he stuck to the text. 
What did he preach? "The things concerning 
the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus 
Christ/' 

The same is true of Simeon. He believed 
and was baptized. 

Paul and Crispus (Acts 18: 8). — "And 
Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, be- 
lieved on the Lord with all his house; and 
many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and 
were baptized/' Nothing is said about repent- 
ance. Did Paul forget it? We believe he 
stuck to the text, for he "reasoned in the syn- 
agogue every Sabbath/' 

If Luke had given in detail every conversion, 
we would have a history of repetitions, so much 
so that it would be contrary to good authorship. 
So by divine revelation we have a diversified 
account. Whatever item that seems to be 
omitted in any case of conversion was included, 
for the commission is the great central text. 
The apostles were never told to change it, and 



60 The Plan of Salvation. 

it stands to-day by the authority of Jesus 
Christ. 

Five Thousand Men (Acts 3: 19; 4: 4).— 
This passage (3: 19) may appear as being out 
of harmony with the other answers: "Repent 
ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins 
may be blotted out, when the times of refresh- 
ing shall come from the presence of the Lord." 
Because Peter was preaching the resurrection 
from the dead, the priest, captain, and Saddu- 
cees became enraged and put Peter and John 
in prison. "Howbeit many of them which 
heard the word believed; and the number of 
the men was about five thousand." At Pente- 
cost and on this occasion Peter gave in part the 
same arguments prior to giving the commands. 
There was preaching, hearing, and believing 
on both occasions. 

Let us compare the stated commands as 
given on the two occasions — Acts 2 : 38; 3 : 19. 
"Repent" in both means the same. The words 
"be converted" in Peter's second sermon oc- 
cupy the same place as "be baptized" as given 
in his first. They both follow "repent." Bap- 
tism is the converting act. It completes the 
process; it completes the requirements of the 
commission, and is in harmony with Peter's 
first sermon. It is "for the remission of sins." 
Remission of sins certainly leaves man in a new 
condition and relation. 

"Converted" means a change, and conver- 



Conversion. 61 

sion is in process before man is converted. 
From clay brick are made. The clay is changed 
from one use to another. We convert logs into 
lumber and lumber into furniture. Rough 
rock are chiseled and dressed into monuments 
of beauty. A man changed from a sinner con- 
demned to a pardoned man is conversion. Con- 
viction of sin is not conversion, but a part of 
the process. A man converted is freed of con- 
viction. 

The Revised Version has the words "turn 
again" instead of "be converted" following 
repent. Repentance is a decision for a turn, 
and baptism is the command by which the turn 
is made. It was so at Pentecost. When a man 
is baptized, he has been converted, he has 
turned again for, or unto, remission of sins — 
turned from his condemnation to salvation. 

Peter is, therefore, justifiable in changing 
the phraseology, as it does not change the 
meaning. The change was made by divine au- 
thority, and in this way we have a diversified 
account of conversion. "Be baptized," "be 
converted," "turn again," following "repent," 
mean the same, and conform to the commis- 
sion, the nucleus of their preaching. 

What difference in meaning "for the remis- 
sion of sins" and "and that your sins may be 
blotted out?" None. Two different groups of 
words conveying the idea of pardon. What is 
the difference in "ye shall receive the gift of 



62 The Plan of Salvation. 

the Holy Spirit" and "when the times of re- 
freshing shall come from the presence of the 
Lord?" None. Two groups of words denot- 
ing the coming of the Holy Spirit as an abid- 
ing Comforter; a manifest token of God's ac- 
ceptance into a new spiritual relation; a seal 
of promise. 

It is necessary that every item of the com- 
mission be preached, and we believe they were; 
yet to avoid a series of repetitions, omissions 
were made by the historian. But every con- 
version conforms to the commission. You can- 
not leave out belief and preach a full gospel; 
you cannot leave out repentance and preach a 
full gospel; you cannot leave out baptism and 
preach a full gospel. What is true of the 
preacher is also true of the man obeying. * 



Born of Water. 63 



CHAPTER IX. 



BORN OF WATER. 



There is something about being born of wa- 
ter that authorized Jesus to put stress upon it. 
The man that raises his hand in objection to 
this command is in more danger than the man 
who raised his hand to steady the ark. Jesus 
told Nicodemus unless done man cannot enter 
the kingdom of God, and we believe it. 

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, bap- 
tizing them in the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." This bap- 
tismal formula means something. It is by the 
authority and a signified approval of the God- 
head. It means a concurrence in command- 
ing and the purpose for which commanded. In 
this act man meets the combined efforts and 
influence of heavenly power for pardon and 
salvation. 

There is a special fixed purpose in the act 
of baptism, or being born of water. It has a 
divine significance that stands for something, 
and that something is as important and neces- 
sary as God in his wisdom could devise for the 
salvation of man. We believe the Lord insti- 



64 The Plan of Salvation. 

tuted the simplest, the wisest, the only available 
means in keeping with justice, being perfectly 
adapted to form new life and new principles. 
In other words, the law of spiritual life is em- 
bodied in commands, and these commands 
obeyed is the law of begetting, growth, and 
birth. God's power of spiritual life is through 
the law of life, just as the natural child is of 
the law of nature. 

The significance of baptism was not made 
known to the first Christians, so far as we 
know. The wisdom of inspiration holds it for 
a later date. Peter did not tell the three thou- 
sand why be baptized, except "for the remis- 
sion of sins." The significance is not even 
given in the commission. Salvation is the 
promise. We wish to study the significance, 
and ask your attention first to Rom. 6: 1-12. 

In the first three verses of this chapter the 
writer asked the following questions: "Shall 
we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" 
"How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any 
longer therein?" "Know ye not, that so many 
of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were 
baptized into his death?" The expression, 
"were baptized into his death," seems to be the 
thought emphasized. It is the climax of the 
writer's argument for impressing upon them 
the solemn obligation for purity of life; that 
its significance is deep and their walk in life 
should conform to the solemn obligation. 



Born of Water. 65 

After asking the above question, the writer 
begins his explanation. "Therefore we are 
buried with him by baptism into death: that 
like as Christ was raised up from the dead by 
the glory of the Father, even so we also should 
walk in newness of life. For if we have been 
planted together in the likeness of his death, 
we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrec- 
tion: knowing this, that our old man is cruci- 
fied with him, that the body of sin might be 
destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve 
sin." 

We call your attention to three acts that 
form a part or are associated with baptism. 
There is a crucifixion, a burial, and a resurrec- 
tion. Man is to be crucified with him, bur- 
ied with him, and raised up with him. Jesus 
was crucified, buried, and raised from the dead. 
Man must pass through the same ordeal to be 
in his likeness. 

How is the old man of sin crucified? By re- 
pentance. A mind determined to serve God, 
let come what may, crucifies the old man, with 
his affections and lust for sin. The spiritual 
begotten has grown until he has prevailing 
power and influence, and conquers and cruci- 
fies the old man of sin, and carries him to the 
waters of baptism for a burial. No man is a 
fit subject of baptism until there is a death of 
the body of sin. It is the dead crucified body 
that is buried, just as the dead body of Jesus. 

5 



66 The Plan of Salvation. 

Baptism not only signifies a death to sin, but 
is a burial of the person dead to sin. It not 
only signifies a burial of the person dead to sin, 
but a resurrection from the dead. The cruci- 
fixion of the old man of sin must be as real as 
was the crucifixion of Jesus. The burial oi 
the person dead to sin must be as real as the 
burial of Jesus. The resurrection of the bur- 
ial by baptism with him will be as real as was 
that of Jesus. 

Baptism of the commission is the same as 
born of water as given to Nicodemus. The 
commission goes more into detail and gives 
the preparatory steps for baptism. Jesus told 
Nicodemus the necessity of the new birth, and 
afterwards gave the apostles the conditions of 
the necessary preparation and growth prior to 
the birth. Who but God could foresee eyes in 
spittle and clay and a washing at the pool? 
Who but God could foresee a new birth of wa- 
ter? Born of water as was Jesus born of the 
grave. 

"Buried with him in baptism, wherein also 
ye are risen with him through the faith of the 
operation of God, who hath raised him from 
the dead." (Col. 2: 12.) Do you not see the 
great spiritual significance of baptism again 
repeated in the burial and resurrection? We 
are raised with Christ Jesus "through the faith 
of the operation of God." Unless man believes 
that he will be raised a new creature, he will 



Born of Water. 67 

not be raised, for he must have faith in the 
operation of God. If he is baptized believing 
that God will raise him up, it will be done, for 
this is the promise. Man is to believe in the 
appointed ways of God, just as did the leper 
who washed seven times. Man is to have faith 
in the operation of God, just as the people who 
marched around the walls of Jericho. The op- 
eration of God is the power that does the work, 
but this work is done for those who have faith 
in the appointed way, and thereby meets God 
in his appointments. We know of no command 
in which a greater faith is required than in 
baptism. To be raised up from the grave of 
water, a new creature in Christ, is a greater 
work than opening the eyes of the blind and 
throwing down walled cities. 

"Else what shall they do which are baptized 
for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why 
are they then baptized for the dead?" ( 1 Cor. 
15: 29.) Paul's argument is, if there be no 
resurrection, there is no need of baptism, for 
it is useless and meaningless. If no resurrec- 
tion, no salvation. "Ye are yet in your sins." 
In this passage the significance is made promi- 
nent. 



68 The Plan of Salvation. 



CHAPTER X. 



BORN OF WATER— CONCLUDED. 



Baptism has a deep spiritual significance, 
more than the world seems to realize. The 
confusion brought about by mode — that is, 
whether it is by immersion, pouring, or sprink- 
ling — has beclouded the religious world until 
its divine significance is covered in the trash 
pile of contention and strife. Baptism has no 
modes. If pouring, if sprinkling, if immersion 
are modes, what is baptism? The Book says 
nothing about mode; it is simply baptism. It 
took place at a "certain water/' where there 
was "much water ;" in the "Jordan river" and 
"pools;" that the candidate went to the water, 
"down into the water," then "up out of the wa- 
ter," and Paul says they "were buried." 

"Well," says one, "what about the children 
of Israel, who were baptized unto Moses, in 
the cloud, and in the sea?" This is figurative, 
as was the baptism of suffering that came 
upon the Savior. There was neither immer- 
sion, pouring, nor sprinkling of water in this 
baptism. They passed over dry. Notice the 
wording: "And were all baptized unto Moses, 



Born of Water — Concluded. 69 

in the cloud, and in the sea." Unto Moses as 
leader; the walls of water stood up on both 
sides; the cloud stood over them and coming- 
down so as to cover them ; they were hid from 
the view of the Egyptian by water and cloud; 
baptized from the view of the enemy in the 
cloud and sea. 

The water grave, from which we are raised, 
"born of water," is a symbol of the grave of 
Jesus, and nothing but a burial by baptism will 
correspond to the design. The design fixes the 
mode. It fits like a miter sealed by the eternal 
power of God. On account of sin Jesus was 
crucified, and God has ordained that man must 
meet Jesus Christ in the grave for pardon. 
He must be born of water to enter the kingdom 
of God. 

We think one more passage sufficient to 
make clear its significance: "The like figure 
whereunto even baptism doth also now save 
us (not the putting away of the filth of the 
flesh, but the answer of a good conscience to- 
ward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus 
Christ." (1 Pet. 3: 21.) Baptism now saves 
us. He does not mean that it is all. If it had 
not been for the grace and mercy ,of God, we 
would not have the opportunity of baptism. 
If it had not been for the love of the Father, 
there would have been no grace. If there is no 
faith and repentance, there can be no baptism. 
So it is not all, but it has an important part in 



70 The Plan of Salvation. 

salvation, and no important part can be left 
out. "God so loved the world," but that love 
does not save direct. God is merciful, but that 
mercy does not save direct. The commands 
obeyed work out the purpose designed by the 
commander. 

Let us return to Peter's statement: "Even 
baptism doth also now save us." But how? 
"By the resurrection of Jesus Christ." In or- 
der to get the proper connection we will give 
the verse above. Peter, in speaking of those 
who lived at the time of the flood, says: 
"Which some time were disobedient, when once 
the long-suffering of God waited in the days 
of Noah, while the ark was a-preparing, where- 
in few, that is eight souls were saved by wa- 
ter." How were the eight souls saved? By 
water. How were the rest destroyed? By wa- 
ter. Water saved and water destroyed. What 
was the difference ? By faith and obedience to 
God the eight souls went into the ark. The 
ark saved. How? As the water was rising 
for destruction, the same water was raising the 
ark for salvation. Being in the ark saved. 
It was the raising of the ark that saved. The 
water that raised the ark saved. The eight 
souls were saved "by water." 

We again wish to call your attention to the 
resurrection being associated with baptism. It 
now saves us "by the resurrection of Jesus 
Christ." Peter is now referring to the last 



Born of Water — Concluded. 71 

part in baptism — the resurrection. Do not get 
the idea that "the like figure" saves, for it is 
baptism. What is the "like figure?" A flood 
was coming. An ark was to be built and the 
people to go in. Unless the ark had been 
raised, the eight that went in would have been 
lost. Unless Christ had been raised from the 
dead, there would be no salvation. Noah's 
ark was raised, so has Jesus Christ been raised. 
As water saved the eight, so we are saved by 
baptism. Being baptized into Jesus Christ, and 
he having been raised from the dead, we are 
raised up with him, as they were raised by the 
ark — they in Noah's ark and we in Christ, our 
ark. 

Peter does not mention the flood and bap- 
tism in connection to emphasize the wonders of 
the flood, but uses the wonderful results of the 
flood in emphasizing baptism — showing that it 
is just as necessary to be baptized into Christ 
in order to be saved from the destruction of 
sin as it was for them to get into the ark to 
be saved from the destruction of the deluge. 
What holds good for their salvation is just as 
binding upon us in the "like figure." It is just 
as reasonable to do away with the ark, their 
going into the ark, and it being raised, and save 
them, as it is for us to do away with baptism 
and the resurrection of Jesus and our being 
raised with him, and save us. 

Paul and Peter teach the same thing about 



72 The Plan of Salvation. 

its importance and significance. Peter takes 
the resurrection feature and explains it by the 
flood and ark; Paul deals with the crucifixion, 
burial, and a resurrection. 

Let us examine the parenthetical clause of 
verse 21 — "not the putting away of the filth 
of the flesh, but the answer of a good con- 
science toward God." Question: Could any 
one get the idea of putting away the filth of 
the flesh, unless baptism is by immersion ? No 
such an idea comes or could come from pour- 
ing or sprinkling. Do you suppose Peter would 
have said a word about the filth of the flesh 
if baptism is by sprinkling or pouring? This 
is proof that he knew of but one way, and that 
there is only one way, and that one way might 
suggest to some the idea of putting away the 
filth of the flesh. So he makes this statement 
to show that this is not the purpose, but that it 
has a deeper design than putting away the filth 
of the flesh. Does not the idea of a burial, a 
resurrection, and the statement in reference to 
putting away the filth of the flesh put it be- 
yond controversy as to the so-called "mode?" 

Some seem to have the idea that the answer 
of a good conscience toward God in baptism 
refers to a choice as to how they prefer to be 
baptized — whether by immersion, pouring, or 
sprinkling; that if their conscience is satisfied 
with sprinkling for baptism, that makes it all 
right. But that is not the teaching. We have 



Born of Water — Concluded. 73 

noticed what it is not for — putting away the 
filth of the flesh. Then for what purpose? 
"But the answer of a good conscience toward 
God." It being the last command for an alien 
sinner for remission of sins, the answer of a 
good conscience toward God is made when it 
is performed. 

This answer of a good conscience is not said 
to be made by belief and repentance. They 
are steps on the way. Why not made? Be- 
cause the answer is not complete, for it takes 
baptism, the last command for an alien sinner 
to be pardoned. That the answer of a good 
conscience toward God is made by baptism is 
proof that it is the last act for pardon, for that 
completes the answer, and what completes the 
answer completes the requirements. The sure 
way is good enough, and the questionable un- 
satisfactory to a good conscience in making 
this answer. 

It was not until Christ had passed the cruci- 
fixion, the burial, and resurrection that salva- 
tion was proclaimed to a lost world. They 
were essential in the scheme of redemption in 
perfecting the conditions whereby man might 
be saved. The life of Christ could only sat- 
isfy the law of justice to such an extent that 
if man would pass through the same ordeal 
that he would be pardoned. Hence we have 
commands to obey. A crucifixion, a burial, 
and a resurrection are as essential to the sal- 



74 The Plan of Salvation. 

vation of man as was the crucifixion, burial, 
and resurrection of Jesus in perfecting the con- 
ditions by which man could be pardoned. Man 
was not saved when Christ was raised from the 
dead, but he had made it possible. 

Up to the present we have made no distinc- 
tion between baptism and being born of water. 
But there is this difference: Man is buried in 
baptism before he is born of water. He can- 
not be born of water unless baptized. Born 
of water is the work of God in raising him up 
from the dead. When raised, he is born of wa- 
ter, as was Jesus born of the grave. 



Born of the Spirit. 75 



CHAPTER XL 



BORN OF THE SPIRIT. 



The birth of water and of the Spirit are so 
closely related that you cannot mention one 
without implying the other. Birth itself is a 
transition. Man is translated from one stage 
to another and from one kingdom to another — 
from a child of the world to a child of God. 
This birth is as much by law as that of the 
natural child. 

Where the idea comes that man is born of 
the Spirit first and enters the kingdom of God 
before he obeys the law of pardon, is some- 
thing we have never understood. If man is 
born of the Spirit first, and God gives this di- 
rect, why preach the gospel to be obeyed for the 
remission of sins? At Pentecost, when Peter 
told those people who cried out, "What shall 
we do?" would you claim that they were born 
of the Spirit before they repented and were 
baptized? If so, they were in the kingdom of 
God before their sins were remitted. Were 
they not told what to do in order to have remis- 
sion of sin? When they obeyed, they were 
pardoned and raised up and translated into 



76 The Plan of Salvation. 

the kingdom of God. Jesus put the birth of the 
Spirit after born of water, and no man can 
change it. Man could as easily change the po- 
sition of stars. 

The birth of the Spirit is not independent of 
what man is required to do. It is the result of 
a spiritual begetting by the word of God con- 
ceived in the heart and a growth through obe- 
dience to the commands. We must not mistake 
the begetting for the birth. Repentance is a 
growth after the begetting. The birth of wa- 
ter and of the Spirit, after repentance. 

If Nicodemus had been present at Pentecost 
and had done what Peter commanded, would 
he not have been added with the three thou- 
sand? Would he not have been born of the 
water and of the Spirit? Would he not have 
understood more clearly what a man must do to 
enter the kingdom of God ? The birth of wa- 
ter and of the Spirit is something that God 
does for man, and that when man has obeyed 
the commands. 

"But God be thanked, that ye were the serv- 
ants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart 
that form of doctrine which was delivered 
you." (Rom. 6: 17.) Note: (1) A doctrine 
was delivered — the gospel was preached; (2) 
they obeyed from the heart that form of doc- 
trine — something in the doctrine to be obeyed. 
What the result? "Being made free from sin, 
ye became the servants of righteousness." 



Born of the Spirit. 77 

What made them free from sin? What had 
they done to be freed? "Obeyed from the 
heart that form of doctrine." Does not their 
freedom follow their obedience? To obey 
from the heart implies a knowledge of the 
form, a willingness to obey, and the act of obe- 
dience. You take obedience out of salvation, 
and you will have condemnation left. "And 
having been made perfect, he became unto all 
them that obey him the author of eternal sal- 
vation/' Jesus is the author of salvation 
through obedience. We know of no other way. 

Paul was sent to the Gentiles "to open their 
eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, 
and from the power of Satan unto God, that 
they may receive forgiveness of sins." He 
had the gospel, the power of God, with which 
to do this work. Man is not saved until after 
he turns. The gospel tells man how to turn, 
from what to turn, and to what turn. He turns 
in obedience from the power of Satan unto 
God. Man is not benefited by commands until 
he obeys them. 

"Obedience to the faith" is the same as obey- 
ing from the heart "that form of doctrine," 
which is the same as the commission given to 
the apostles; the same that Peter preached at 
Pentecost, "for the remission of sins;" the 
same as "being then made free from sin." The 
commands of God are the channels into which 
and through which the power of God through 



78 The Plan of Salvation. 

Jesus Christ for salvation reaches man. The 
commands are the outlets of his redeeming 
grace. By virtue of the blood of the Son of 
God we have commands containing the essence 
and cleansing power of Calvary's cross. So 
the new birth is the result of obedience to the 
gospel. 

Paul, in speaking of raising from the dead 
the person buried with Jesus in baptism, does 
not refer to the man who does the baptizing 
assisting or raising the body of the man bap- 
tized; but there is an actual raising up of the 
new man, the old man having been buried with 
Christ. 

God did not raise Jesus until buried. He 
was quickened by the power of God in resur- 
rection. The moment that man is thus buried 
God raises him up with Jesus, a new creature, 
born of water and of the Spirit, and is a babe 
of the spiritual kingdom. Baptism sustains 
the same relation to the birth of the Spirit 
as a burial to a resurrection. 

We are not to understand that the Holy 
Spirit gives birth as a mother, for the Spirit 
is designated as masculine gender — "he;" but 
that spiritual seed grow up in man, forming a 
spiritual being; that this new being is created 
by the Father through spiritual law, just as 
we are created by natural law; that spiritual 
purity and spiritual likeness are transmitted 
to the spiritual born, as the likeness of father 



Born of the Spirit. 79 

and mother to their offspring. Those born of 
the flesh have characteristic features of the 
flesh; those born of the Spirit of God have 
characteristic resemblances of purity and like- 
ness of the divine. This relationship is spirit- 
ual, and not of the flesh. 

But man is not ready for the new birth, nei- 
ther is he born, until there is a death and a bur- 
ial. The first stage of spiritual life begins 
with primary belief, and must grow until there 
is a death and a burial. As the spiritual begot- 
ten begins to grow, the old man of sin begins 
to weaken ; and this process must continue un- 
til there is a crucifixion and a burial. The old 
life must come to an end before there can be 
a new man raised by the mighty power of God 
in resurrection. The commands, when obeyed, 
produce just such results of life and death as 
are required preparatory to the new birth. 
Herein we see the wisdom of God in the plan 
of salvation. There is nothing else to produce 
such results. It is the law ordained of God. 

The New Testament is sealed, ratified, and 
sanctified by the blood of Jesus Christ, as was 
the law of Moses by the blood of animals. 
When we do what he has commanded for the 
remission of sins, then we reach the merits of 
Jesus' blood. Was not his blood shed when the 
three thousand were told what to do? Were 
they pardoned before or after they obeyed ? 

The grave of Jesus is the most wonderful 



80 The Plan of Salvation. 

grave ever made. From it life and immortal- 
ity were brought to light through the gospel. 
Through this grave comes hope and sunlight 
of the glory world. Instead of being a grave 
of darkness and death, it is a grave of light 
and life. It is the gateway for sinful man into 
the kingdom of God. We verily believe that 
for man to enter the kingdom of God, he must 
pass through this grave in the likeness of Je- 
sus Christ. What the Father required to make 
perfect the plan of salvation, the same is now 
required of man in the plan of salvation. We 
are to be crucified with him, buried with him 
in baptism, and raised up with him. 

Man is dead to the glory of the next world 
until he has been pardoned, and alive with new 
spiritual life and power when pardoned. He 
may believe, repent, and be baptized ; but he is 
not saved until God pardons. But the moment 
the conditions are met, pardon takes place with 
God. When man is buried with Christ in bap- 
tism, God raises him up from this grave as he 
did Jesus, and he is as truly born of water as 
Jesus was born of the grave. This is the "born 
of water" as was told Nicodemus. 

What is the birth of the Spirit ? As we have 
stated, spiritual seed — seed of the kingdom of 
God — must first be sown in the heart. From 
spiritual seed a new life begins. This new life 
grows by obeying the gospel, which is God's 
law for growth preparatory for a birth, just 



Born of the Spirit. 81 

as the natural law of mothers for their un- 
born. 

When there is a death and a burial of the old 
man, there is a new man raised up, a pardoned 
man, one accepted of God, and he is translated 
into the kingdom of God. This is the birth of 
the Spirit of God. He is a new man and in a 
new kingdom — born anew, and that from 
above. This invisible birth into an invisible 
kingdom is marvelous, for it is the mighty 
works of God's pow r er. 

"Verily, verily I say unto thee, Except a man 
be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot 
enter into the kingdom of God." 



82 The Plan of Salvation. 



CHAPTER XII. 



CONFESSION. 



So far as we have been able to understand 
the New Testament, the church of Jesus Christ 
is built upon one article of faith. Jesus said 
to his disciples: "Whom do men say that I the 
Son of man am ? And they said, Some say that 
thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and 
others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets/' He 
then turns the question direct to them: "But 
whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter 
answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the 
Son of the living God. And Jesus answered 
and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon 
Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed 
it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, 
and upon this rock I will build my church ; and 
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." 
(Matt. 16: 13-18.) 

What is the rock upon which the church is 
built? "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the 
living God." The word "it" in verse 17 refers 
to the truth confessed by Peter, and not to the 



Confession. 83 

fact that the revelation was made by the Fa- 
ther. The truth revealed by the Father, con- 
fessed by Peter, is the rock. 

Jesus is not the rock, but the builder of his 
church. Peter is not the rock, as the Church 
of Rome would have you believe. "Peter" in 
the original means a "stone." He is so named 
in John 1 : 42. But the church is not built 
upon petros ("Peter," a "stone"), but "upon 
this petra [a mountain ledge] I will build my 
church." The truth that Jesus is the Son of 
God is the petra (foundation rock) upon which 
the church is built. This scripture clearly re- 
verses the claims of Rome. Everything per- 
taining to the church depends upon Jesus be- 
ing the Son of God. It is the foundation for 
the whole Christian system. Upon this truth, 
and not Peter, the church stands or falls. Pe- 
ter never claimed to be a pope, but an apostle. 

You may compile all the articles of faith of 
the world, but "thou art the Christ, the Son 
of the living God," outweighs them all. It is 
the most comprehensive and far-reaching 
statement ever made. The whole scheme of 
redemption of the past, present, and future is 
included in the statement. 

Moses cast down a rod, and it became a ser- 
pent. So did the Egyptians, but the serpent 
of Moses swallowed theirs. You may have a 
line of articles of faith reaching from New Or- 
leans to New York, but this one, "thou art the 



84 The Plan of Salvation. 

Christ, the Son of the living God/' will swallow 
every one of them. There is as much differ- 
ence as in "petros" and "petra." 

Jesus said, "I will build my church" — not 
"churches." Division is proof that error ex- 
ists. We have direction for only one church. 
The man who thanks God for a divided church 
does not pray like our Master. 

"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted 
him, and given him a name which is above 
every name: that at the name of Jesus every 
knee shall bow, of things in heaven and things 
in earth, and things under the earth ; and that 
every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is 
Lord to the glory of God the Father." Jesus 
Christ is to be confessed as Lord, and not Pe- 
ter nor the pope. 

This confession is something that no man 
will escape. Every tongue will confess "that 
Jesus Christ is Lord." Every man that refuses 
to confess the One highly exalted will in the 
next world confess him, and, for his shame- 
ful neglect of the redeeming grace of God 
through Jesus Christ, cry for the rocks and 
hills to fall upon him. 

In the great commission, confession is not 
mentioned. So far as we know, all churches 
take what is called a "confession" before 
church membership. Why not mentioned? 
The relation that repentance sustains to bap- 
tism makes confession a duty intervening, and 



Confession. 85 

becomes self-explanatory. A man may repent 
anywhere all alone, but he will make his in- 
tentions known. When his mind is fully made 
up, he will express it. "Out of the fullness of 
the heart the mouth speaketh." His intentions 
cannot be pent up any longer. Up to this time 
he has withheld his mental decision, but before 
he can go any further something is to be said 
and done. To obey the command of baptism 
calls forth an expression. It serves as a me- 
dium of an understanding between the candi- 
date for baptism and the man who is to do 
the baptizing. This is true of Philip and the 
eunuch. Confession of an alien sinner is an 
act between repentance and baptism. There 
is where this chapter comes in, but we thought 
best to introduce it later. 

Suppose A preaches, and at the close of his 
sermon gives an invitation for membership, 
and B comes up. B could speak out voluntarily 
and say: "I believe that Jesus is the Son of 
God." That would be his confession. Or A 
might ask B the question: "Do you believe that 
Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God?" 
If B should say, "I do," that would be his con- 
fession. 

This is the great test question. No man 
can enter his church and deny that fact. Man 
may confess his sins to God and his faults be- 
fore man, but he must confess that Jesus is the 
Son of God before man before he can be saved. 



86 The Plan of Salvation. 

"Upon this rock" his church is built. If he is 
not the Son of God, there is no church. 

"Well/' says one, "do you believe the apos- 
tles heard a confession on the day of Pente- 
cost ?" Why not? Was it not to them an in- 
tervening, individual duty standing before 
their baptism? When they repented, their 
minds were made up to be baptized, and then 
it was absolutely necessary for some sort of 
communication to be made. They had to let 
the apostles know that they were ready. As 
no man is authorized to baptize in the name of 
Jesus Christ until a confession of faith is made 
that Jesus is the Son of God, we believe the 
apostles had the assurance. 

The condition of membership of his church 
is obeying the commands. The commands 
obeyed declare Jesus to be the Son of God. 
The commands are so given and so arranged 
that each one, step by step, declares him to be 
the Son of God. When that declaration is 
fully made on the part of the individual, he 
becomes a part of the church built upon the 
rock: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the liv- 
ing God." Remove the fact that Jesus is the 
Son of God, and you make void the commands 
that declare him to be such and have no rock 
upon which to build. Let man refuse to be- 
lieve, repent, confess, and be baptized, and 
there will be no church built. Men and women 
are the material of which the church is built, 



Confession. 87 

and the commands are the power of God that 
shapes the material that makes up the holy 
temple of God. The plan of salvation obeyed 
declares him to be the Son of God, and is build- 
ing his church "upon this rock." 

Evidence is the first cause. 

Belief is accepting evidence as true. 

Repentance is a decision to do what is com- 
manded for salvation. 

Confession is making known the decision. 

Baptism is a solemn declaration in act that 
Jesus is the Son of God and was raised from 
the dead. 

There is no oath formulated by man to bind 
any one to a discharge of duty that is as bind- 
ing, as forcible, and solemn as the man who 
stands before a congregation and makes the 
good confession. 



88 The Plan of Salvation. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



THE HOLY SPIRIT REPROVES. 



Jesus told the apostles that he would send 
another Comforter, the Holy Spirit. He told 
them what the Comforter would do for them 
and for the world; that the world could not 
receive it, but that the Spirit would reprove 
the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment; 
and the first experience of the world after the 
Spirit came was that of reproof or conviction. 

"Of sin, because they believe not on me; of 
righteousness, because I go to my Father, and 
ye see me no more; of judgment, because the 
prince of this world is judged." (John 16: 9- 
11.) The promise of the Spirit and his com- 
ing according to promise is, according to our 
judgment, the strongest proof that Jesus went 
higher than the clouds and reached his home 
with the Father. 

At Pentecost, the time the Spirit came, Pe- 
ter told them what Jesus had done — the won- 
ders and signs that God did by him while on 
earth, and that by wicked hands he was cruci- 
fied. They were so reproved of sin they cried 
out: "What shall we do?" What Peter said 



The Holy Spirit Reproves. 89 

and what they saw and heard was evidence of 
supernatural power. 

"Because they believe not on me." The 
world would be reproved of sin when the Spirit 
came. When Jesus left this world, he went 
somewhere; and the coming of the Spirit is 
proof of his whereabouts. The Spirit came 
and delivered his message to the apostles, and 
they to the people ; and it was so plain, so con- 
vincing that Jesus is the Son of God that they 
were reproved for sin of unbelief. 

We believe the world still rests under this 
evidence for reproof of unbelief. The Spirit 
will never come again as on that day. The 
proofs of that day that Jesus is the Son of God 
have passed into history; the same proofs are 
found when the history is read. The proof 
abides, and repeats itself when read. 

"Of righteousness, because I go to my Fa- 
ther, and ye see me no more." Jesus said that 
he was going to the Father, and the Spirit came 
and said he is there. Is not this an all-sufficient 
proof that he is the Son of God? In this we 
have an expression of the Father testifying 
to the Spirit's message of the whereabouts of 
Jesus. The Father's acceptance is proof of 
the righteousness of Jesus, and this acceptance 
is made known by the Spirit. If Jesus had not 
been righteous, he could not have gone into his 
Father's presence. 

Jesus was accused of unrighteousness, but 



90 The Plan of Salvation. 

the Father's acceptance reproves his accusers. 
We imagine just before Jesus reached the new 
Jerusalem that the Father said unto the tallest 
angel: "Cry aloud what David said, 'Lift up 
your heads, O ye gates : and be ye lifted up, ye 
everlasting doors ; and the King of glory shall 
come in.' " What stronger proof does the 
world need to be convinced of his righteous- 
ness? He went to the Father, as he said he 
would ; he sent the Spirit, as he said he would ; 
and we see him no more, as he said. The evi- 
dence of heaven and earth is that he is the Son 
of God. 

Is it necessary that this be repeated in order 
to reprove the world of his righteousness? 
This evidence is just as true now as then. The 
proof once made is forever made. We may as 
reasonably expect Jesus to come back to earth, 
teach, and be condemned, crucified, and raised 
from the dead as to expect a repetition of the 
Spirit's coming in proof that Jesus is the Son 
of God and that he is righteous because he has 
gone to the Father. This is made for all ages 
and people, and the world to-day is under that 
conviction. There can be no higher evidence. 

"Of judgment, because the prince of this 
world is judged." Who is that prince ? When, 
where, and how judged ? "Hereafter I will not 
talk much with you: for the prince of this 
world cometh, and hath nothing in me." 
(John 14: 30.) 



The Holy Spirit Reproves. 91 

When the devil tempted the Master, he of- 
fered the kingdoms of the world if he would 
fall down and worship him. The way the king- 
doms treated Jesus it seems that Satan did re- 
ally own them, for they were certainly loyal 
to him. "He hath nothing in me," said Jesus. 
There was no love nor sympathy, for he would 
not be his agent. He antagonized the works 
of the devil. So the devil began his work on 
the kingdoms of the world to take his life. It 
is true he had power to lay life down and to 
take it up. He could have called down legions 
of angels, but he was willing to die and become 
the world's Redeemer. 

The world was made to believe that when he 
was crucified, an end had been made to his 
claims. This satisfaction on the part of the 
devil and his angels was interfered with by his 
resurrection. So they hired men to say that 
his disciples came by night and stole his body. 
But that did not end the matter. Forty days 
after his resurrection, in the presence of large 
numbers, he began to rise, talking as he went 
up, until a cloud shut off their view. No doubt 
the unbelievers' hope was renewed and many 
of his disciples discouraged. But when the 
Spirit came, the world had evidence, and that 
from heaven, that he is now King, and judg- 
ment was passed upon the prince of this world. 

Jesus proved by overcoming all combined 
powers of the prince that he is conqueror of 
the world; that all worldly ambition and all 



92 The Plan of Salvation. 

manner of sin will come into judgment; that 
Satan has not power to prveent it; that the 
prince of this world was tested, overcome, and 
found wanting. The world need no longer 
expect to follow its prince for a final victory; 
that his followers are now and forever fore- 
warned of a limit and an end of his power. 
The prince of this world was judged by the 
victorious Christ. His victory was absolute 
and definite when he reached the Father. All 
efforts to suppress his claims had failed. 

By showing the world the judgment of its 
prince would reprove it of judgment. The 
world is reproved of judgment for denying 
that Jesus is the Son of God, and following the 
prince of this world. When a clear-cut, deci- 
sive evidence is made of the final victory of 
Jesus, the world cannot but see it and be re- 
proved of judgment. 

The final evidence that Jesus is the Son of 
God is made known by the Spirit's coming ac- 
cording to promise. After the Spirit came, the 
evidence is enlarged by what the Spirit spoke to 
the apostles. This evidence is so conclusive 
that the world to-day is reproved of judgment. 
This evidence is abiding and will not be re- 
peated. The facts are in the Book, and there 
as conclusive and final evidence. The Spirit 
reproves to-day as then through the same evi- 
dence. Let the world read to-day this record, 
and it will find itself reproved of judgment by 
the Spirit. 



Gift of the Holy Spirit. 93 



CHAPTER XIV. 



GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



This is the most delightful chapter we have 
had. We are now new creatures, born into 
the kingdom of God, born into a royal family, 
Jesus being our elder brother, sunshine of glory 
making glad the heart. We can now truly say : 
"Our Father who art in heaven." It is a time 
of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. 

Jesus says the world cannot receive the 
Spirit. After the Spirit came, he reproved the 
world; but in order to receive him, man must 
obey the gospel. The Holy Spirit is a gift 
promised to those who obey the gospel. "And 
ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." 
(Acts 2: 38.) This is a gift without the ask- 
ing, being conditioned on obedience. "We are 
witnesses of these things; and so is also the 
Holy Spirit, whom God hath .given to them that 
obey him." (Acts 5: 32.) Those who obey 
the gospel receive this gift, and they only. 

"He that believeth on me, as the scriptures 
hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of 
living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, 
which thev that believe on him shall receive: 



94 The Plan of Salvation. 

for the Holy Spirit was not yet given ; because 
that Jesus was not yet glorified.)" (John 7: 
38, 39.) Note the words, "he that believeth on 
me/' in verse 38. We are not to understand 
that this is in conflict with Peter's answer 
about obedience. (Acts 2: 38.) This saying 
of Jesus occurred before the day of Pentecost. 
Link the promise of Jesus and Peter, and we 
have this conclusion: Jesus includes in belief 
what the writer of Acts does in 2 : 44. Those 
people believed in Jesus and obeyed. A be- 
liever believes his commands and believes that 
he must obey them. So Peter by inspiration 
made promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit 
to those who obey, and this is proof that Je- 
sus meant the same. 

We do not understand that the gift of the 
Holy Spirit means a baptism of the Spirit nor 
birth of the Spirit, but that there is an influ- 
ence brought to bear that produces joy and 
gladness in the soul. The Spirit aids in pro- 
ducing this unspeakable joy. 

"For ye have not received the spirit of bon- 
dage again to fear; but ye have received the 
Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Fa- 
ther. The Spirit itself beareth witness with 
our spirit, that we are the children of God." 
(Rom. 8: 15, 16.) The witness is not to our 
spirit, but with. We are children by adoption, 
and receive "the Spirit of adoption." 

The Lord through the Spirit gave the com- 



Gift of the Holy Spirit. 95 

mands to be obeyed, asserting forgiveness 
when obeyed. When we obey, we have the tes- 
timony of the two spirits, one saying what to 
do and the other saying it is done. The Spirit 
of God bears testimony with our spirit that 
we are the children of God. The Lord w r ants 
his children of adoption to know and feel his 
approval and to cry: "Abba, Father." 

"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, 
and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" 
This is said of people who had obeyed the gos- 
pel. "If any man defile the temple of God, 
him shall God destroy; for the temple of God 
is holy, which temple ye are." (1 Cor. 3: 16, 
17.) Before the Spirit will make his abode in 
the temple there must be a cleansing, a remis- 
sion of sins. The Spirit testifies of a fellowship 
and companionship with God. It is the seal of 
promise. 

"And he that keepeth his commandments 
dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby 
we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit 
which he hath given us." (1 John 3: 24.) 
Dwelling "in him" and "he in him" is predi- 
cated on keeping his commands. Without 
such an obedience there is no such union. 

Take a child of nature who has been living 
on the cold comforts of a sinful, selfish world, 
with no place to call "home," and some good 
man asks him to go to his home and come 
under his watch care and guidance and be obe- 



96 The Plan of Salvation. 

dient to the government of his home, to be- 
come one of the family, and at last become an 
heir, is only a faint comparison to the adop- 
tion into the family of God. 

A well-directed and provided home, with a 
sweet spirit thrown around the orphan, gives 
it an assurance and a confidence that fills its 
soul with joy and gratitude. So it is with an 
adopted child of God. The so-called "burdens" 
of life become streaks of joy. 

Any man that has not been adopted into the 
family of God, although he may have his thou- 
sands of this world's goods, is poorer than the 
most forsaken orphan. Man clothed in gar- 
ments of sin is poor, ragged, and destitute. 

"Likewise the Spirt also helpeth our infirmi- 
ties." (Rom. 8: 26.) We are encouraged and 
helped by hope of redemption of these bodies 
which are so full of the dregs of disobedience. 
The Holy Spirit takes up our case with the 
Father, "making intercession for us with 
groanings that cannot be uttered." "For we 
know not what we shall pray for as we ought." 
The Spirit becomes intercessor for the saints 
of God. 

The human family is so diseased, so corrupt, 
subject to so many disappointments that even 
the Holy Spirit is given for a bosom compan- 
ion to the saints of God. Honest efforts, hon- 
est purposes, honest intercessions are so im- 



Gift of the Holy Spirit. 97 

perfect that the Holy Spirit maketh interces- 
sions for such according to the will of God. 

We are nowhere commanded to pray to the 
Spirit, but to God in the name of Jesus Christ. 
We are not even commanded to ask the Spirit 
to intercede for us. We believe that true wor- 
ship of God is so sacred, so pure, so holy that 
it is necessary even for the saints of God to 
have special intercession in their behalf by the 
Spirit. 



98 The Plan of Salvation. 



CHAPTER XV. 



GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT. 



The gift of the Holy Spirit is a universal 
promise made to all who obey the gospel. But 
before the New Testament was made and writ- 
ten there were special gifts to the early church. 
The doctrine was new, no written book, and 
the apostles could not be with the newly organ- 
ized churches all the time. So the Lord sup- 
plied this need by giving special gifts of the 
Spirit to enough to carry on the work. 

There is a noticeable feature about the spe- 
cial gifts. It seems that they not only had to 
have a heart and life preparation, but they had 
to desire these gifts, and even to covet ear- 
nestly in order to have the best gifts. There 
were diversities of gifts, as enumerated in 1 
Cor. 12: 8-10. These were made to perfect a 
body in which there should be no schism. Al- 
though some might have greater gifts and 
power, that such should not feel that the less 
honored members were not of the body, but 
that all are members of the one body, and, 
therefore, should have the same care one for 
the other. 



Gifts of the Spirit. 99 

Among the gifts mentioned and compared 
is that of speaking in unknown tongues and 
that of prophecy, which is greater; that five 
words spoken with understanding is better than 
ten thousand in an unknown tongue. Tongues 
are for a sign to them that believe not, but 
prophecy serveth them which believe. 

While Paul encouraged a desire on their 
part for spiritual gifts, he gives strong intima- 
tion that such can be carried too far to the 
neglect of more important duties, and shows 
them a more excellent way. He introduces 
love, which is above all in practical Christian- 
ity ; that it has a greater force and power than 
gifts; that prophecy, tongues, and knowledge 
shall fail, cease, and vanish away, but love 
never faileth. 

When the early church came together and 
one should have a revelation, the one sitting by 
should be silent. "For ye may all prophesy 
one by one, that all may learn, and all may be 
comforted." (1 Cor. 14: 31.) As they had 
no Book, each one present needed to learn of 
the prophets what the Lord desired them to 
know; so they were allowed to talk one at the 
time. Even if one should have a revelation, 
he would not forget it when his time came, for 
the spirits of the prophets are subjects to the 
prophets. By these special gifts the teachings 
of the apostles were renewed, and they also had 
divine assurances of God's presence and power 



100 The Plan of Salvation. 

in confirming and executing the work of the 
church in the presence of unbelievers and ene- 
mies. 

"When he ascended up on high, he led cap- 
tivity captive, and gave gifts unto men." 
(Eph. 4: 8.) These gifts consisted of apos- 
tles, prophets, teachers, miracles, gifts of heal- 
ings, helps, governments, and diversities of 
tongues. "For the perfecting of the saints, 
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying 
of the body of Christ: till we all come in the 
unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the 
Son of God." The reasons for these gifts and 
the purposes to be accomplished are given in 
this passage. The apostles were greatly helped 
in their work of organizing, teaching, and up- 
holding the church in its infancy — a time of 
great trials, strong opposition, and members 
few. 

To-day we have no living apostles, no proph- 
ets, no miracle workers, none with gifts of 
healing, none with diversities of tongues as of 
old. What the apostles taught, what the 
prophets prophesied, the miracles performed 
by healing and otherwise to serve as evidence, 
we now have in the written Book, which has 
been sealed by the Father as sufficient. The 
day of revealing new scriptures is past. There 
is nothing to be added, nothing to be taken 
from. 

The conditions are different to-day from 



Gifts of the Spirit. 101 

what they were before the New Testament was 
made and written. Under the present condi- 
tions, teachers, preachers, and evangelists are 
necessary, but are now qualified differently. 
The only scripture that you or any one else will 
ever know will come by study of the word of 
God, or some one will teach you that has stud- 
ied it. 

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, 
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for 
correction, for instruction in righteousness: 
that the man of God may be perfect, thor- 
oughly furnished unto all good works." (2 
Tim. 3 : 16, 17.) In the light of this scripture, 
have we the promise of special spiritual gifts 
as of old ? And does it support the idea of the 
need of such ? 

A man who has diligently studied the word 
of God, and whose very soul is afire with zeal 
and love for God, can think things and say 
things that he could not under different circum- 
stances. A spiritual frame of mind has much 
to do with the speaker and what he says. Such 
conditions enable him to draw on his spiritual 
power and resources gleaned from God's word. 
A deep piety, a close walk with God, daily liv- 
ing the teachings, gives man a spiritual knowl- 
edge and experience of the spiritual that makes 
his work effective and powerful. For want 
of such men, and not spiritual gifts direct as of 
old, is the cause suffering. 



102 The Plan of Salvation. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



HOLY SPIRIT BAPTISM. 



All leading church organizations hold that 
a loyal, godly life must follow the act of mem- 
bership. But how to become a member of 
Christ's body is where divisions arise, and arise 
largely from the different claims as to what 
the Holy Spirit does in conversion. Some 
claim that a man must be baptized with the 
Holy Spirit before he is a child of God, and 
that this comes in answer to prayer. Did Je- 
sus or the apostles tell men to pray for this 
baptism? Jesus said to his twelve disciples: 
"If ye love me, keep my commandments. And 
I will pray the Father, and he shall give you 
another Comforter, that he may abide with 
you forever." (John 14: 15, 16.) There is no 
Holy Spirit baptism now. 

Had you ever thought how much a Holy 
Spirit baptism means? The apostles had not 
this baptism until after they were commis- 
sioned to go into all the world. By this bap- 
tism they were enabled to perform miracles 
as never before, and to preach the most won- 
derful gospel the world ever heard, and to 
preach it with heavenly power. 

"And when he had called unto him his twelve 



Holy Spirit Baptism. 103 

disciples, he gave them power against unclean 
spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all man- 
ner of sickness and all manner of diseases/' 
(Matt. 10: 1 ; Luke 9: 1, 2.) The twelve had 
that much power under the commission con- 
fined to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 
This baptism gave them a much greater power. 
It was a thorough qualification for the high 
duties of perfecting the establishment of the 
church. The conditions by which men are 
made church members were given unto the 
apostles to declare unto the world. 

In John 14: 16-18, 15: 26, and 16: 7-13 we 
find that Jesus promised his twelve disciples 
another Comforter, "even the Spirit of truth;" 
that the Spirit would teach them all things, 
bring to their remembrance whatsoever Jesus 
had commanded them, guide them into all 
truth, and show them things to come. This 
is what the baptism of the Spirit did for the 
apostles. This promise was made before his 
death. Forty days after his resurrection he 
gave unto the apostles the great commission, 
but told them to "not depart from Jerusalem, 
but wait for the promise of the Father, which, 
saith he, ye have heard of me." (Acts 1:4.) 

The apostles were to wait at Jerusalem "not 
many days." Ten days after his ascension 
"they were all with one accord in one place." 
All at once, "a sound from heaven as of a rush- 
ing mighty wind" was heard. "Cloven tongues 
like as of fire" were seen. But there was no 



104 The Plan of Salvation. 

fire, but "tongues like as of fire" — forked in ap- 
pearance, cloven. 

"But ye shall receive power after that the 
Holy Spirit is come upon you : and ye shall be 
witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all 
Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost 
part of the earth." (Acts 1: 8.) "And they 
were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began 
to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave 
them utterance." (Acts 2: 4.) In addition 
to spiritual knowledge, they were to have 
power; and such power was given unto them 
that they could prove the truthfulness of the 
gospel and its source by unquestionable evi- 
dence manifested in speech, signs, and won- 
ders which they did. They were prepared for 
witnessing. The Holy Spirit, like electric cur- 
rents from heaven, rested upon their heads. 

In Matt. 3:11 John says: "He shall baptize 
you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire." Read 
verse 7, about the Pharisees and Sadducees; 
read verse 10, about the ax. This was a mixed 
multitude — good and bad. 

In Acts 1 : 5 the apostles only are addressed. 
They were to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. 
Nothing said about fire. The wheat will be 
garnered and the chaff burned. (Verse 12.) 
Holy Spirit baptism tells how to avoid the fire. 
Fire baptism is for the wicked and is certain 
to come. 

Some claim that the "one hundred and 
twenty" mentioned in Acts 1:15 received this 



Holy Spirit Baptism. 105 

baptism. We say the apostles only. (1) We 
find in John and in Acts the promise to the 
twelve. (2) The antecedent of the pronoun 
"they" in Acts 2: 1 is "apostles" (Acts 1 : 26). 
(3) They that received this baptism were 
speaking with other tongues and were Galile- 
ans. (Verse 4.) (4) Others said these men 
are drunk. What men? Not women. They 
that were speaking with other tongues. "But 
Peter standing up with the eleven said, These 
are not drunken as ye suppose." The eleven 
were speaking with other tongues and were ac- 
cused of being drunk, and Peter stood up with 
the eleven and denied the charge. 

Peter then proceeds to tell them what Joel 
had said, and that it has now come to pass, at 
least this part: "I will pour out of my Spirit 
upon all flesh." Also what David had said. 
He then tells them about the exaltation of Je- 
sus, and that the Holy Spirit "hath shed forth 
this which ye now see and hear." 

But why this baptism of the Spirit at this 
time and this great manifestation? To re- 
veal the gospel to the apostles ; to prove to the 
world that the apostles had a message direct 
from heaven; to prove that Jesus Christ did 
go higher than the clouds. One of the strong- 
est proofs on record that Jesus is the Son of 
God was made by this baptism. The fulfill- 
ment of his promise was made in the presence 
of Jews, devout men out of every nation un- 
der heaven. God has a time, a place, and way 



106 The Plan of Salvation. 

to make every revelation. Many thousands 
witnessed the fulfillment of this promise, so 
made to give strength of evidence to the fact 
that Jesus is the Son of God. 

How did the Holy Spirit affect the hearers, 
directly or indirectly ? The apostles only were 
baptized. The multitude saw and heard the 
manifestations and heard the apostles make the 
explanation; and when made, they cried out. 
This baptism was not to make any one a child 
of God direct. There is not an example of 
such, nor even implied that such is the case. 
The apostles were baptized by the Holy Spirit 
so that they could tell the world what to do to 
be saved. Jesus through the Holy Spirit gave 
commandments unto the apostles whom he had 
chosen. (Acts 1: 2.) What was revealed to 
them has been written in a Book. Everything 
that pertains to salvation, every duty, is in this 
Book by inspiration of the Spirit. 

Did not Joel say that God would pour out of 
his Spirit upon all flesh? Did not Peter refer 
to this as being fulfilled that day? This bap- 
tism and its effect is for all flesh, even for the 
unborn. It is just as fresh and powerful to- 
day as then. We have the written word and 
they the spoken, and they are the same. Why 
written ? To preserve revelation and to facili- 
tate access. When we wish to learn about this 
baptism, we turn to the record and find the 
same as was made known to the apostles. 

John, in the book of Revelation, said: "He 



Holy Spirit Baptism. 107 

that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 
saith unto the churches." John put this in a 
book, as directed by the Spirit. All who read 
it hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. 
This is the way we get what the Spirit says in 
the Xew Testament through its writers. "And 
the Spirit and the bride say, Come." How did 
we learn that the Spirit says "come?" By 
reading what the Spirit has said unto John. 

Those who believe that a Spirit baptism will 
come in answer to prayer, why not send your 
missionaries to the field without the written 
wor4 and ask God to baptize them with the 
Holy Spirit? Why did not the Lord, instead 
of sending the apostles to the world to deliver 
the message, baptize all, as he did the apostles 
on the day of Pentecost? The inspired writ- 
ten word is the ordained plan of God. Human 
efforts and agency have their place and mis- 
sion in spreading the gospel. 

Where is the man to-day well versed in the 
Scriptures that has not learned them by hu- 
man efforts and human instrumentality? The 
teaching of the Lord is to begin with the 
young. To bring them up in the nurture and 
admonition of the Lord — this is a work as- 
signed to man and not to the Spirit. Paul 
told Timothy to study and show himself ap- 
proved, rightly dividing the word of truth. 
Why not ask the Lord to baptize him with the 
Spirit ? 



108 The Plan of Salvation. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



HOLY SPIRIT BAPTISM— CONTINUED. 



We have heard men state in their pulpits 
that they make no effort to prepare their ser- 
mons; that even the subject and what they say 
is by direct revelation of the Spirit; on the 
next day hear a man of a different faith and 
order make the same claim, and their teachings 
are as far apart as the two poles. Does the 
"Spirit of truth" teach contradictions? There 
is a wrong somewhere. For a man to know the 
teachings of the Spirit, he must study the word 
of God. 

"Well/' says one, "does not the Spirit reveal 
to us as he did to the apostles?" If so, why 
the written Book? It is written that we may 
know the will of God. By study we grow in 
knowledge, and by practice of its teachings 
grow in grace, and we are so commanded. 
The written Book is the revelation of God 
through the Spirit. The Spirit now guides 
through the revealed word of God. Jesus told 
his disciples when they were brought before 
rulers that they need not take any thought 
about what they should say, but that the Holy 



Holy Spirit Baptism — Continued. 109 

Spirit would tell them what to say. But that 
does not apply to men now. What the apostles 
taught by revelation of the Spirit is as far as 
the knowledge of man can go. 

"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither 
have entered into the heart of man, the things 
which God hath prepared for them that love 
him/' Are these things still hidden? No. 
"But God hath revealed them unto us by his 
Spirit : for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, 
the deep things of God." (1 Cor. 2: 9, lo.) 
How did we learn about the things that God 
has in store for them that love him ? By read- 
ing the Scriptures. It is by the Spirit of God 
that we know the things of God, which things 
are now in the Book. 

It is true that we are constantly learning 
new truths and there are many more to learn, 
but they are in the Book, and men find these 
by study of the word of God. One truth 
learned helps to learn another. No man will 
dare claim that the Spirit is now revealing 
something not already revealed in the Book. 

We admit that the New Testament does not 
go into detail of all the things that come up 
in life, but it does go into detail of general 
principles that cover every known act and duty 
of man. There is an underlying principle in 
the gospel that includes in its fundamental 
principles and teachings all the details of a 
daily life. You cannot mention one but what 



110 The Plan of Salvation. 

is covered by principles in the law of God. 
Every subdivision of detailed duties has its 
fountain head in details of fundamentals. 

You may claim that a truth given in the 
gospel is not revealed until understood. We 
admit that a full detailed revelation is not made 
of heaven and its glories, because man's mind 
is not capable of comprehending such wonders. 
"And it doth not yet appear what we shall be : 
but we know that, when he shall appear, we 
shall be like him; for we shall see him as he 
is." There is a part that he did not know and 
a part that he did. The change of man into a 
spiritual, glorified being is too big for man's 
understanding. Yet the fact that such a 
change will be made is revealed by the Spirit. 
When it comes to the duty of man, a detailed 
revelation has been given. 

Cannot a sinner read Acts, second chapter, 
and learn what Peter commanded after he was 
baptized with the Holy Spirit, just as well as 
those who heard him orally ? Cannot a Chris- 
tian learn what is required of him in the New 
Testament? Are not the commands as simple 
in the Book as they were when spoken by the 
apostles? The Spirit is speaking to us to-day 
as he did to them. The words written express 
the same things and are as spiritual and pow- 
erful as when spoken to the apostles. What 
was revealed to each, and in all parts of the 
world, we have in book form. 



Holy Spirit Baptism — Continued. Ill 

If the Spirit reveals afresh unto men to-day 
what he did before the Book was written, will 
some one explain why the written Book ? Sup- 
pose the Spirit revealed to-day as he did to the 
apostles, would it not be the same as we have 
in the written Book? Why do men go to the 
record to find out the teachings of God on any 
subject? Because it contains all information 
that God in his wisdom deemed necessary for 
man. We have a full and complete revelation 
made by the baptism of the Spirit. 



112 The Plan of Salvation. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



HOLY SPIRIT BAPTISM- 
CONCLUDED. 



The New Testament makes mention of two 
Holy Spirit baptisms — at Pentecost, when the 
gospel door was opened unto the Jews; at the 
household of Cornelius, when the gospel door 
was opened unto the Gentiles. 

Peter said to Cornelius: "Ye yourselves 
know how that it is an unlawful thing for a 
man that is a Jew to join himself or come unto 
one of another nation.'' But the Lord had 
showed Peter by letting down a sheet "that God 
is no respecter of persons." It seems that he 
had not learned this by virtue of inspiration, 
but that the Lord employed a different method, 
one more convincing to him and others. Na- 
tional prejudice had to be broken up, and the 
Lord worked upon both sides by a course of 
events which, when completed, was convincing 
to both Jew and Gentile. 

After Peter had preached a part of his ser- 
mon to these Gentiles, "the Holy Spirit fell on 
all them which heard the word." This was an 
astonishment, "because that on the Gentiles 



Holy Spirit Baptism — Concluded. 113 

also was poured out the gift of the Holy 
Spirit." Peter, in Acts 11 : 16, calls this "pour- 
ing out" a baptism. This one and the promise 
made in Acts 1 : 5, fulfilled at Pentecost, are 
the only ones so designated in the word of God. 
The Holy Spirit came direct in both cases with- 
out human agency. In this respect the two 
are different from any other visitations of the 
Spirit. 

These Gentiles could also speak with 
tongues. God has a purpose, a design, in all 
his works. By this baptism of the Spirit on 
this occasion the apostles were relieved of all 
doubt as to the gospel being for the Gentiles; 
that remission of sin is for them, and that they 
were to accept the Gentiles in gospel obedience 
as they would the Jew. Then the question was 
asked: "Can any man forbid water, that these 
should not be baptized, which have received the 
Holy Spirit as well as we ?" It seems that even 
the privilege of using the waters for baptismal 
purposes would have been forbidden without 
this assurance. Under such conditions, Peter 
wanted to know if any could object and upon 
what ground. 

This baptism of the Spirit was given for the 
purpose of revealing truth, and by evidence of 
supernal power prove that God was pres- 
ent approving and confirming gospel privileges 
unto Jew and Gentile alike. By the vision of 
the sheet and this baptism of the Spirit the 



114 The Plan of Salvation. 

apostles and Gentiles were brought together 
in understanding the purpose of God with ref- 
erence to the Gentiles. 

At Pentecost the apostles were baptized with 
the Holy Spirit, and the people witnessed the 
result; at the household of Cornelius the peo- 
ple and Peter and six brethren witnessed the 
result. Spirit baptism is a revelation of God 
accompanied with supernatural power and evi- 
dence. 

We do not know the extent of the revelation 
made to the Gentiles, but we are certain that 
it did not equal that of the apostles, for they 
were specially prepared with a full message of 
all things past, present, and things to come. 
These Gentiles did two things as a result of this 
baptism — they spoke with tongues and magni- 
fied God. They were given something to 
speak, and, no doubt, being assured that they 
were included in the gospel plan of salvation 
caused them to magnify God. But what they 
must do to be saved must be told by Peter. 
The angel had told Cornelius that Peter "shall 
tell thee what thou oughtest to do/' We be- 
lieve he did this according to the great commis- 
sion, and closes with the last command — wa- 
ter baptism. He did not tell them that he 
thought it best. "And he commanded them to 
be baptized in the name of the Lord." Both 
Jew and Gentile have the same commands to 
obey and the same promises to enjoy. 



Holy Spirit Baptism — Concluded. 115 

"For by one Spirit are we all baptized into 
one body, whether we be Jew or Gentile, 
whether we be bond or free." This passage is 
thought by some to teach that all true members 
of the church, members of the one body, have 
been thus baptized. But the Book does not 
teach that a man must be so baptized to enter 
the kingdom of God, but that he must be born 
of the Spirit. 

By the direction of the "one Spirit," Peter 
commanded water baptism at Pentecost and at 
the household of Cornelius. They obeyed; 
therefore they were baptized into the "one 
body," both "Jew and Gentile." They were 
added to the saved after baptism. If they had 
refused to obey after Peter commanded them 
by the direction of the "one Spirit," would 
they have been of the "one body?" It is by 
baptism that Jew and Gentile are made one 
in body. The same Spirit that commanded 
Jew commanded Gentile. From that day now 
and forever is that true. 

I have been associated with men of unques- 
tionable piety, true in heart and life; but they 
gave no evidence that they had the baptism 
of the Holy Spirit. They could not do what 
such did do and would be able to do now. If 
you claim this baptism for all who are of the 
"one body," you must admit one of two things 
— that they can speak with tongues or that 
they are not of the one body. 



116 The Plan of Salvation. 

In the second and tenth chapters of Acts we 
find the word "pour." Some think it a New 
Testament expression making pouring equiv- 
alent to baptism. The words come, send, and 
pour out are New Testament expressions rela- 
tive to the Spirit ; but all have reference to an 
approach of the Spirit upon the apostles. 

We are not to understand that the Spirit 
himself was poured out as water from a 
broken vessel, but that spiritual power and 
knowledge were imparted of the Lord to them 
through the Spirit. He told things new and 
old and things to come. It was spiritual knowl- 
edge and power imparted to mind and body 
that produced the effect — not his coming, but 
what he did after the coming. 

The Spirit was not poured out literally, but 
the things of the Spirit were imparted in pro- 
fusion until it is stated they (apostles) were 
"filled" with the Holy Spirit. They were un- 
der the control, guidance,^ and influence of the 
Spirit — completely submerged by divine reve- 
lation of God's eternal truths. 

"But ye shall receive power after that the 
Holy Spirit is come upon you." Notice the 
word "after." The sending of the Spirit upon 
them, the coming of the Spirit upon them, and 
the pouring out of the Spirit upon them is not 
the baptism; for the apostles did not receive 
knowledge and power until after this was done. 
These are causes to an effect. The effect pro- 



Holy Spirit Baptism — Concluded. 117 

duced in and upon them is the baptism. When 
they had received the impartings of the Spirit, 
they were in this way and at that time bap- 
tized. 

This baptism is upon all flesh for all time — 
given to the apostles that they might deliver 
the message to the world. The world is now 
bound by this message of the Spirit. All men 
will be judged by what we now have written 
in the Book. Instead of praying to God to 
send a baptism of the Holy Spirit, we should 
study the words of life in the Book and thank 
God for a full and complete revelation of his 
will. 



118 The Plan of Salvation. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



PREDESTINATION. 



This is a Bible doctrine, but honest people are 
divided as to its meaning. "Foreordination" 
means the same thing as "predestination." 
Some claim that God has from the beginning 
determined whatsoever comes to pass. 

What is known as "Calvinism" and "Ar- 
minianism" are very much opposed to each 
other in teaching. It is a certain fact that both 
as taught cannot be true. They are too far 
apart. But we believe there is a union ground 
established in the teaching of God's word. The 
Lord did not make preparation for different 
kinds of churches, for there is but one. The 
theories of men will not stand the fires of judg- 
ment. 

We believe that all the Calvinistic ideas 
(and truly there be some) grow out of the 
scriptures that teach the aggressive move of 
God upon the world. But what God has done 
could not be expressed otherwise. He is the 
beginning, the originator, the maker of man, 
and the giver of law for man's guidance, pro- 
tection, and comfort. God made the initial 



Predestination. 119 

step, for man could not. In his law there is a 
directive move that man might be developed. 
Commands of the Lord were given that man's 
powers given him in creation might be un- 
folded. When any nation forgets God, rejects 
his law, what promise has such a nation ? This 
brings up the thought of responsibility. 

Man in his order of creation is capable of 
making attainments beyond that of the beast 
of the field. To meet this creative demand a 
law was given. In this law God sets forth 
what is right and what is wrong. He tells 
man what to do and what not to do, and prom- 
ises blessings to the obedient and punishment 
to the disobedient. This is universal in appli- 
cation to man. 

There have been different administrations, 
but all for the good of man. There were com- 
mands at one age of the world binding, but new 
and different commands at another age. The 
Lord was dealing with an infant world. The 
purposes of God are wrought out through law. 
Law is the means to an end. 

The Lord has decreed that the man who 
obeys shall be blessed, and the man who dis- 
obeys shall be punished. This fact no man will 
deny. The history of the past, the forecast of 
the future substantiates this claim. Man's des- 
tiny is by divine appointment through law. 
The man who will not obey God's commands 
is predestinated to punishment, while the man 



120 The Plan of Salvation. 

who obeys is predestinated to blessings. This 
is God's decree, and no man can change it — 
that is, that God will punish the disobedient 
and reward the obedient. 

We believe that a man to whom God gives 
commands is responsible to God and should 
obey. Commands are given to be obeyed and 
not rejected. It is true that without law there 
would be no disobedience; but without law 
man would be as the beast of the field. Ex- 
isting evil is a positive proof of man's disobe- 
dience and his free moral agency. By man 
came sin. 

The existence of the devil is proof of man's 
free moral agency. God has not deprived man 
of his liberty nor freedom by commanding him 
what to do and what not to do. Man is an 
exalted creature in this respect. It is an evi- 
dence of the reasoning power of mind in man, 
recognized by the Lord. This thought should 
stimulate man to nobility of action. 

By making man a responsible creature, and 
at the same time allowing him to exercise his 
free moral agency, does not make God the au- 
thor of sin. Man abuses his own power of rea- 
son when he disobeys. Without free moral 
agency, God would be a respecter of persons, 
unless he condemned all or saved all. 

On account of man's access to right and 
wrong, he is tempted to do wrong; but there 
is no sin unless he yields. All virtues have 



Predestination. 121 

kindred vices. Unless there be such a thing as 
disobedience and freedom thereto, we would 
not know obedience. Unless there be white, 
there could not exist black. Obedience is ren- 
dered with existing opposing forces. That 
makes it obedience. 

God foreknew and foretold the coming of 
Jesus. "I will raise them up a Prophet from 
among their brethren, like unto thee, and will 
put my words in his mouth : and he shall speak 
unto them all that I shall command him. And 
it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not 
hearken unto my words which he shall speak 
in my name, I will require it of him." (Deut. 
18: 18, 19.) "And it shall come to pass, that 
every soul, which will not hear that prophet, 
shall be destroyed from among the people." 
(Acts 3: 23.) 

It was foreordained of God that Jesus should 
come, and he should speak the words which 
the Father gave him; also that whosoever 
would not hearken should be punished. But 
who should obey and who should disobey is 
not predestinated. The words "whosoever" 
and "every soul" will not justify such a claim. 
Also notice that this applies to the time of the 
Savior. This is the kind of predestination in 
the Bible. 

Man can obey and he can disobey. Obedi- 
ence and disobedience are the issues growing 
out of divine law. Man was not made for law, 



122 The Plan of Salvation. 

but law for man. The Sabbath was made for 
man, and not man for the Sabbath. Man was 
not made to lie, but the law forbidding was 
made for man. Man was not made to steal, 
but commanded to provide things honest. 

God has predestinated man by placing him 
under a predestinated law. If he obeys, he 
will be rewarded; if he disobeys, he shall be 
punished. No man is forced to fill a drunk- 
ard's grave nor a thief's dungeon nor a mur- 
derer's gallows. 

"If every transgression and disobedience re- 
ceived a just recompense of reward, how shall 
we escape if we neglect so great salvation?" 
If the people of past ages who disobeyed re- 
ceived their just punishment, how may we ex- 
pect it under the gospel ? Did God cause these 
people to do wrong that he might punish them ? 
Was it not "a just recompense of reward?" 
How could a punishment be just if their diso- 
bedience was predestinated ? 

"Having predestinated us unto the adoption 
of children by Jesus Christ to himself, accord- 
ing to the good pleasure of his will." (Eph. 1 : 
4.) Before the foundation of the world, in 
the beginning of the purposes of God for man's 
spiritual welfare, God decreed that certain 
things should be done for man in the person of 
Jesus Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ was 
predestinated to the children of men, and man 
is, therefore, predestinated to its opportunity. 



Predesti nation . 1 23 

God loved the world, and, according to the 
good pleasure of his will, he gave Jesus Christ 
in accomplishment of his love and purpose. 

To what does Paul say they were predesti- 
nated ? "Unto the adoption of children." God 
predestinated that man would have the oppor- 
tunity of adoption through Jesus Christ. Paul 
does not say they were adopted children before 
the foundation of the world. He does not say 
their adoption was predestinated. He does not 
say they were predestinated children to be 
adopted. We become children of God by obey- 
ing the law of adoption. 

Did the Ephesians do anything to be saved ? 
"In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard 
the word of truth, the gospel of your salva- 
tion." (Eph. 1: 13.) Whom did they trust? 
Jesus Christ. When? After they heard the 
word of truth. What is this word of truth? 
The gospel of salvation. What does it mean to 
trust Jesus ? A submission to his authority ; a 
willingness to obey and to follow him, trusting 
their future destiny in the merits of his cause. 

In Acts 18 : 24-28; 19 : 1-5 we find that Apol- 
los preached unto them — that is, the Ephesians 
— and that they were baptized after the man- 
ner and purpose of John's baptism. John's 
baptism was valid and good until Peter on the 
day of Pentecost announced baptism in the 
name of Jesus Christ. 

Apollos was "an eloquent man, and mighty 



124 The Plan of Salvation. 

in the scriptures/' but "knowing only the bap- 
tism of John." Aquila and Priscilla knew that 
John's baptism was then out of date, "and ex- 
pounded unto him the way of God more per- 
fectly." Paul comes along and tells them that 
they should be baptized in the name of the Lord 
Jesus, just as Peter commanded at Pentecost. 
This is an example of a second baptism in or- 
der to be right. 



Predestination — Concluded. 125 



CHAPTER XX. 



PREDESTINATION— CONCLUDED. 



Sodom did not have the fifty righteous. 
Was it a just punishment to punish these peo- 
ple for doing what they did, if their evil deeds 
were predestinated by their Creator before the 
formation of the world, before they were born? 
Is not the punishment proof of their wicked- 
ness and their responsibility ? 

Jesus taught his disciples that those who 
would not receive them nor hear their words, 
"it shall be more tolerable for the land of 
Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, 
than for that city." (Matt. 10: 15.) Does 
Jesus here teach that a certain number were 
predestinated to obey and the rest to disobey ? 
Why send out men to preach to a people who 
were predestinated to disobey it? Jesus lo- 
cates the responsibility upon the people. 

Nineveh was a wicked city, and Jonah was 
told to cry: "Yet forty days, and Nineveh 
shall be overthrown." That was God's decree. 
The people changed, and saved the destruction. 
Why did God hold these people responsible for 
their disobedience, if they were predestinated 
to do evil ? 



126 The Plan of Salvation. 

Did the Lord make Cain kill his brother, 
Abel? No. Cain grew angry because the 
Lord had respect unto Abel, and that was be- 
cause of his offering. Did not the Lord tell 
Cain that if he would do the same, he would be 
accepted; and if he did not, "sin lieth at the 
door?" Not only that, "but unto thee shall 
be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him." 
All this possible for Cain, for God so expressed 
it. One act of disobedience is a stepping-stone 
to others. God punished Cain because it was 
in his power to obey, and he would not. 

Noah, no doubt, made an honest effort to get 
the people to obey the Lord. But every imag- 
ination of the thoughts of their hearts was evil 
continually. Did God cause these people to sin? 
Did he destroy them for doing evils they 
were made to do? "My Spirit shall not always 
strive with man" explains the Lord's attitude 
and locates the evil and responsibility. These 
people were given one hundred and twenty 
years of grace in which to change. 

"For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even 
for this same purpose have I raised thee up, 
that I might show my power in thee, and that 
my name might be declared throughout all the 
earth." (Rom. 9: 17.) The Lord made just 
demands through Moses for the children of Is- 
rael. Pharaoh, by his conquest, had made 
slaves of them. They had become a source of 
revenue to Pharaoh and his government. He 



Predestination — Concluded. 127 

was so selfish and hard-hearted that he de- 
lighted in putting extra work upon them to de- 
press them. Their release for the purpose of 
worshiping God was refused. If man refuses 
to be ruled in obedience, he will be ruled in 
punishment, for God rules the world. Pha- 
raoh's stubborn and unyielding disposition is 
shown in his pursuit to the sea. The demands 
of the Lord were righteous, but contrary to 
his wicked inclinations. 

The Lord raises up wicked men by allow 
ing them to live. The Lord endures with much 
long-suffering the acts of wicked men that he 
may show forth his mercy on vessels of honor. 
But when wicked men fill their cups of iniquity, 
God destroys. Pharaoh was a vessel fitted for 
destruction on account of his wickedness. 
"Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will 
have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth." 
The Lord does not harden the man who obeys. 
It is the man whose wickedness he has endured 
with much long-suffering. Is the wickedness 
endured by the Lord with much long-suffering 
predestinated ? 

Pharaoh was permitted to live and rule un- 
til he had reached the heights of wickedness 
worthy of death without mercy. He had so 
defied the commands of God that he was not 
worthy of mercy. God used miraculous means 
to convince him, and strong enough to convince 
all that there is but one true and living God. 



128 The Plan of Salvation. 

The name of God was declared throughout all 
the earth. The combined world cannot over- 
throw the commands of God. The world is 
warned in this lesson against such folly. 

Wickedness is not predestinated, neither is 
man predestinated to wickedness; if so, at the 
judgment day God will judge his own predes- 
tination. The dealings of God with sinful men 
are not written to prove a predestinated wick- 
edness, but to show that God does punish the 
disobedient and thereby warn the world. We 
have no account of God's being displeased with 
a man that obeys him. 

Judas betrayed the Master of his own free 
will and accord. "The Son of man goeth as it 
is written of him; but woe unto that man by 
whom the Son of man is betrayed ; it had been 
good for that man if he had not been born." 
Do you believe the Lord would make a man 
and make that man betray the Master, and 
then state: "It had been good for that man if 
he had not been born?" "For he was num- 
bered with us, and had obtained part of this 
ministry. Now this man purchased a field 
with the reward of iniquity." "The field of 
blood." He made his own plans and agree- 
ments. When Judas saw that Jesus was con- 
demned, he brought the money and said: "I 
have sinned, in that I have betrayed the inno- 
cent blood." He does not say that he could 
not help it, but he does say, "I have sinned." 
This locates his responsibility and sin. 



Predestination — Concluded. 129 

But was it not prophesied that the Master 
was to be betrayed, and that the scriptures had 
to be fulfilled? True, but that does not relieve 
Judas of the sin. Was not Judas forewarned 
of this by prophecy? If he had no knowledge 
of this, did he not know that it was wrong to 
betray the innocent? He said: "I have sinned." 
If you were to agree and accept money in pay- 
ment to betray even an innocent friend of yours 
to a mob, would you not, like Judas, say: "I 
have sinned?" 

The Lord, by his wisdom and power, can 
convert the wickedness of men into blessings 
for others and bring to pass things foretold, 
yet at the same time allow all men free moral 
agency. For an event to be foretold by the 
Lord does not make the Lord responsible for 
the act committed. The death of the Master 
was foretold, yet it was by wicked hands. Be- 
cause the Father could see these events of the 
future does not clear the work done by wicked 
hands. They did the deed of their own free 
will and not by compulsion. 

What about Esau and Jacob ? "For the chil- 
dren being not yet born, neither having done any 
good or evil, that the purpose of God accord- 
ing to election might stand, not of works, but 
of him that calleth; it was said unto her, The 
elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, 
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. 
What shall we say then? Is there unright- 

9 



130 The Plan of Salvation. 

eousness with God? God forbid." (Rom. 9: 
11-14.) His foretelling did not take away 
their personal responsibility, nor did the Lord 
make a change in their formation affecting 
their future acts, but simply made choice of 
their future. God had promised to bless Abra- 
ham, his seed, and all nations. God was mak- 
ing a selection of the most worthy through 
whom the Savior should be born. "In Isaac 
shall thy seed be called." Ishmael was not of 
the right lineage. 

If we will notice some of the things that de- 
veloped in the life of Esau, we can easily see 
why God refused him to come into the line of 
ancestry of the Savior. Esau married con- 
trary to the advice of his parents, and caused 
them grief. He married idolatrous women. 
Would it have been wise for God to allow these 
heathen and idolatrous mothers to raise up 
boys to make up the line of ancestry of the Sav- 
ior ? It was God's purpose to fulfill the prom- 
ise made Abraham. That promise had to come 
from these two boys. How could this purpose 
be fulfilled in Esau, when his boys would 
be among the unworthy nations destroyed? 
Therefore he chose Jacob the most worthy, 
that his purpose might stand — not of works, 
for neither had done any good or evil. There- 
fore it is according to election, and without un- 
righteousness with God. 

Esau was a "fornicator, or profane person." 



Predestination — Concluded. 131 

(Heb. 12: 16.) Did the Lord make him com- 
mit this evil and then have Paul to denounce 
him and to warn others of his ungodly acts? 
If the Lord predestinated that he should do 
this evil, would not that be unrighteous on the 
part of God ? But the act of choosing is what 
the Lord did, and there is no unrighteousness 
in it with God. The boys had committed no 
act. 

The statement about the love of God for Ja- 
cob and hatred for Esau was written long 
after the boys were dead and their deeds fin- 
ished. Gen. 25 : 23 shows two nations, and 
that the descendants of Esau and the descend- 
ants of Jacob are special thoughts of the 
prophet when he said: "Jacob have I loved, but 
Esau have I hated." It cannot be true that 
God predestinated Esau to do evil, and then 
hate him for doing the evil. God would be 
hating his own predestination. 

Predestination refers to the time when God 
was purposing the making of man and the 
high and noble privileges that he purposed to 
offer man through Jesus Christ. The gospel is 
the predestinated plan of God for man. The 
opportunity of adoption, and for whom pur- 
posed, is to be determined by the extent of the 
preparation made by the Father. "God so 
loved the world" that Jesus was crowned with 
glory and honor, that by the grace of God he 
should taste death for every man. "Every 



132 The Plan of Salvation. 

man" means "whosoever." But who should 
obey and who should not obey is not predesti- 
nated. 

The blessings of Jesus Christ are predesti- 
nated through obedience to the gospel. The 
man that does not obey is as certain to be pun- 
ished as the man who obeys is to be blessed. 
These are fixed certainties of God. When 
man obeys God, he fulfills the righteous pur- 
pose of God; when he disobeys, he refutes the 
grand God-given privileges that God in his wis- 
dom and love provided and proclaimed for 
man's present good and eternal glory. Pre- 
destination, rightly considered, is calculated to 
impress the solemn duties imposed upon man 
by his Creator, and to strengthen his faith in 
the eternal powers and rewards of God. 



God Xo Respecter of Persons. 133 



CHAPTER XXI. 



GOD XO RESPECTER OF PERSONS. 



It is difficult for man to determine the pur- 
poses of God under all circumstances, and for 
this very reason some have concluded that God 
is a respecter of persons. But God's thoughts 
and ways are higher than man's; therefore he 
cannot understand when nor how justice will 
be given to all men under all conditions. "How 
unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways 
past finding out." 

It may appear that some have had more 
trials than others on account of their duties as 
leaders and otherwise, but the Lord will reward 
all men according to their requirements and 
service. The Old and New Testaments both 
teach that God is no respecter of persons. 

It is true that the children of Israel were a 
chosen, peculiar people, and chosen for a pe- 
culiar, specific purpose on the part of God; but 
that does not mean God did or proposes an in- 
justice to all others. His plan was to bless the 
world. The Judge of all the world will do 
right. God was teaching the world that there 
is but one true and living God. The history 



134 The Plan of Salvation. 

of the chosen Jew, the promises and fulfill- 
ments, stands to-day as a monument of evi- 
dences. 

"He that knoweth to do good and doeth it 
not, unto him it is a sin." Who is responsible 
for this sin? The man that knows what is 
right and will not do it. God's saving power 
through Jesus Christ is through obedience. 
No man has the promise of a home in heaven 
that does not obey. 

When the plan of salvation was perfected 
and declared, it was delivered for every crea- 
ture. Why prepare the gospel for every crea- 
ture and command it to be preached to the 
world if every man has not the power to accept 
and obey? Do you think that God would put 
this duty upon man if God had from the be- 
ginning fixed the destiny of all ? What reason 
can you give for preaching the gospel to men 
forever condemned? 

Why did Jesus tell his disciples to let their 
light so shine that other might be constrained, 
if the destiny of all men was fixed before man 
was born? Why did the Lord forbid man to 
do certain things, if that man was so made and 
his work so decreed that he had to do the for- 
bidden thing? Are not the forbids of God 
proof of man's responsibility, and not of man's 
predestinated good and evil ? 

"But he that doeth wrong shall receive for 
the wrong which he hath done : and there is 



God No Respecter of Persons. 135 

no respect of persons." (Col. 3: 25.) If a 
man is predestinated to do wrong, does he sin 
if he commits the wrong predestinated? 
When a man is punished as a criminal by our 
courts, if that man was predestinated to com- 
mit the crime, do not the courts by their ac- 
tion condemn God's predestination? 

We have known jurors who claimed that 
God predestinated all things that come to pass, 
but their verdict makes the criminal responsi- 
ble for his crime, which is correct, but not ac- 
cording to their view of predestination. The 
Book teaches that man shall not kill, man shall 
not steal, man shall not commit adultery. If 
man was predestinated to commit such crimes, 
why does God forbid the coming to pass his 
own predestination ? 

"For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall 
he also reap." (Gal. 6: 7.) When a man 
sows evil deeds, he may expect to reap the pen- 
alties annexed, for God is no respecter of per- 
sons. "But he that soweth to the Spirit shall 
of the Spirit reap life everlasting." Obedience 
is sowing to the Spirit. Notice, man is to do 
the sowing. God does not rain down right- 
eousness like brimstone from heaven. "A 
man" and "he" means "whosoever." 

"Be not deceived; for God is not mocked." 
If the destiny of all men is fixed, who will be 
benefited or harmed by being deceived or not 
being deceived? The warning within itself is 



136 The Plan of Salvation. 

proof that God is no respecter of persons, and 
that all are put on notice that man's reward 
will be according to the sowing. God did not 
sow a harvest of wickedness and death before 
man was born for him to reap. There is no 
excuse for man's being deceived. He would 
not sow wheat and expect to reap barley. 
Sowing and reaping is as universal as man and 
the acts of man. 

"And if ye call on the Father, who without 
respect of persons judgeth according to every 
man's work, pass the time of your sojourning 
here in fear." (1 Pet. 1: 17.) Man should 
be so consecrated to God and so obedient to 
his commands that he would honestly fear that 
some command might pass without his obe- 
dience, knowing that his reward will be ac- 
cording to his work. Every man will meet his 
work at judgment, and God, without respect 
of persons, will give to every man justice, 
which is according to the man's work. Other- 
wise God would be a respecter of persons. 

"Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of 
a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of 
persons; but in every nation he that feareth 
him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted 
with him." Whatever Peter may have thought 
about the gospel being for the Jew only, the 
vision of the sheet changed him to God's atti- 
tude on this subject. In other words, God an- 
nounced to him and to the world that he is not 



God No Respecter of Persons. 137 

a respecter of persons. "But glory, honor, 
and peace, to every man that worketh good, to 
the Jew first, and also to the Gentile : for there 
is no respect of persons with God." (Rom. 2: 
10,11.) 

"When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed 
from heaven with his mighty angels, in flam- 
ing fire taking vengeance on them that know 
not God, and that obey not the gospel of our 
Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Thess. 1 : 7, 8.) Will 
God take vengeance on a man that obeys not 
the gospel, if that man was predestinated to 
disobedience? Vengeance will be taken be- 
cause the man could obey, but would not. 
Vengeance is God's just punishment to the dis- 
obedient. When there is obedience, there is 
no vengeance. 

The highest obligation, the highest known 
duty of men and of angels, is to obey the com- 
mands of God. The lowest attainments for 
time and eternity are made in disobedience. 
The life shaped and molded by divine power in 
obedience is the life that God will adorn with 
eternal glory. 

Judgment day was not before the founda- 
tion of the world. When the mighty angel 
takes a little book in hand and sets his right 
foot upon the sea and his left on the earth and 
declares time shall be no longer, then all na- 
tions will be gathered and rewarded according 
to the work of each man. God is no respecter 
of persons. 



138 The Plan of Salvation. 



CHAPTER XXIL 



CALLED OF GOD. 



Before the foundation of the world God 
purposed or predestinated man to a glorious 
opportunity. This came through the gift of 
his Son, and is revealed in the gospel of Jesus 
Christ. Man was not called to this opportu- 
nity in its fullness until the purposed opportu- 
nity was perfected. 

Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like 
unto a certain king who made a marriage feast 
for his son. Many were bidden, and after- 
wards servants were sent forth to call them. 
Other servants were sent out, but were cruelly 
treated. Still others were sent forth into the 
highways. Among the number who went in to 
the feast was a man who had not on the wed- 
ding garment. Then Jesus said: "For many 
are called, but few chosen." The chosen ones 
at this feast were the ones who accepted the in- 
vitation and put on the wedding garment. 
The number called were many compared to the 
chosen. 

You might prepare a feast at your home for 
a number of your friends and the friends not 



Called of God. 139 

know about the preparation; but when you 
send out your messengers to deliver the invi- 
tation and in this invitation you make strong 
appeals for their presence, would they not be 
called ? Suppose they begin to render their ex- 
cuses — "I have bought a piece of ground," "I 
have bought a yoke of oxen/' "I have married 
me a wife" — quite a number render excuses; 
would they not be called, but not chosen? A 
man may be called and then lost — called and 
not chosen. In order to be chosen there must 
be a response to the call and a compliance to 
the requirements. 

When the apostles and others went forth 
with the gospel, the people who heard it were 
called. The Lord calls people through the gos- 
pel. Without the gospel either spoken or writ- 
ten, man knows nothing about salvation, of Je- 
sus Christ. 

Preaching the gospel is God's way and 
means of calling men. It is the expressed me- 
dium between man and God. Whenever man 
hears the gospel, he hears the calling of God, 
and is, therefore, called of God. But, like 
those called to the marriage feast of the king's 
son, many refuse to obey the call. The man 
that goes to the dark corners of the world and 
preaches the same gospel that Paul preached, 
while he, like Paul, may be compelled to stay 
one or more years in a city, those who are 
told of the wonderful preparation that God 



140 The Plan of Salvation. 

has made and that God has invited them, they 
are then called of God. It is so arranged by 
divine appointment that man is to preach the 
gospel. This work is not even assigned to an- 
gels. Man is to deliver the call of God. There 
is no higher trust nor a more sacred duty than 
for a man to be a mouthpiece for God, deliv- 
ering the call of salvation and glory. 

God's call consists in telling man what the 
Lord has prepared for man through Jesus 
Christ, and what man must do to be saved. 
He is called to future glory through obedience. 
Heaven will not be populated with men who 
have not believed and repented. The Lord 
furnishes the robe of righteousness in his gos- 
pel, and man must put it on. 

We take the position that man is not now 
called except through the gospel. It tells man 
what God has done for him and what he is 
commanded to do. A man's attention may be 
arrested by the wonderful workings of God 
even in nature, but the gospel is God speaking 
direct to man. 

"Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to 
the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus 
Christ." (2Thess. 2: 14.) How called? By 
the gospel — not by a mysterious, small voice 
from the skies. Men are called in the prepara- 
tion of the gospel, but not in person until the 
gospel has been preached unto them. 

"That ye would walk worthy of God, who 



Called of God. 141 

hath called you unto his kingdom and glory." 
God does the calling through the gospel unto 
his kingdom and glory, but man must "walk 
worthy of God." This is a walk of obedience. 

"For God hath not called us unto unclean- 
ness, but unto holiness." We are called with 
a holy calling — "according to his own pur- 
pose and grace which was given us in Christ 
Jesus." Before the foundation of the world 
God purposed this very gospel and the preach- 
ing of the same to a lost world. People are in 
this way called to the grace given in Christ 
Jesus. This is a holy call, because it is of God; 
holy, because man is called unto a holy living; 
holy, because invited to a holy place. 
. "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give dili- 
gence to make your calling and election sure." 
Note, "calling" is before "election." "Dili- 
gence" means to be constant in effort — not idle 
nor negligent. In order to make the call effi- 
cient and effective, diligence is required. You 
take it out of a man's life, and he will be a fail- 
ure in the Master's vineyard. 

"Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on 
eternal life whereunto thou art also called" — 
called of God through the gospel, for it tells 
about eternal life through a good fight of faith. 
It requires a good fight of faith to answer the 
call. 

Paul said: "I press toward the mark of the 
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Je- 



142 The Plan of Salvation. 

sus." There is no call so high as this, because 
in Christ Jesus God has given the world the 
highest and noblest privilege that heaven can 
bestow. Do you not feel the constraining in- 
fluence of this call of God for a purer and no- 
bler life? Can you estimate the value of the 
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Je- 
sus? "I press" was Paul's way of response. 

"For the promise is unto you, and to your 
children, and to all that are afar off, even as 
many as the Lord our God shall call." (Acts 
2: 39.) Note the words "shall call." What 
is the promise made to the fathers, their chil- 
dren, and to the "afar off?" Remission of 
sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit were 
promised upon conditions of obedience. Is the 
promise "to your children" and "afar off" 
made without obedience, like that commanded 
of the fathers? No; the same conditions for 
all. We want you to notice this uniform and 
universal law of pardon and promise of the 
gift of the Holy Spirit. If man receives re- 
mission of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit 
as promised by Peter without complying with 
Acts 2: 38, upon which he based the promise 
of remision of sins and the gift of the Holy 
Spirit, Peter made a mistake, for he certainly 
does give only one law of conditions for all. 

The statement, "even as many as the Lord 
our God shall call," does not limit the promise 
to a few of the fathers, their children, and 



Called of God. 143 

"afar off/' but a statement summarizing the 
enumerated and including any and all that 
might apparently be left out in the enumerated 
statement. The promise is to all who will com- 
ply with the conditions. No man can comply 
with the conditions until called. He must first 
hear the gospel. 

In Acts 1 : 8 Jesus says "Jerusalem," "J u " 
dea," "Samaria, and unto the uttermost part 
of the earth." We understand from these two 
scriptures that God had made preparation for 
all, and that all were called in purpose, but 
that the gospel had a starting place, and that 
a course was mapped out by the Lord for the 
spread of the gospel; that the apostles went 
as directed, and that whenever they reached a 
new field, that was the appointed time for the 
call to be effective for them. They were per- 
sonally called of God when they heard the gos- 
pel. 

Finally the time came in this way for the 
Gentile, the "afar off/' and the apostles made 
many long voyages preaching the gospel "unto 
the uttermost part of the earth." When they 
heard the gospel, they were called of God, for 
the call had been delivered. There are no 
bounds nor limits for gospel opportunity. 
Where the gospel is being preached the call of 
God unto holiness is being delivered. Many 
hear the call, but few heed it. 



144 The Plan of Salvation. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



ELECTION— CHOSEN OF GOD. 



The Scriptures teach that predestination is 
before election in the order of God's plan and 
work; that by predestination and election of 
God no man is relieved of responsibility; that 
compulsory obedience and disobedience is not 
imposed upon any man. Adultery, fornica- 
tion, murder, drunkenness, and such like, are 
not forbidden to merely prevent self and fam- 
ily debauchery and to keep one out of the chain 
gang or from the gallows, but man cannot do 
these things and inherit the kingdom of God. 

If God predestinated a certain member to 
eternal happiness and the rest to condemna- 
tion, he virtually made choice in this act. God 
predestinated the gospel as we have it, the 
preaching of the same, and that the obedient 
should be blessed and the disobedient punished. 
God made choice, not who should obey, but of 
those who would obey, for it is by obedience 
that man comes up to the conditions purposed 
and decreed of the Father that makes man ac- 
ceptable with God. "In every nation he that 
f eareth him, and worketh righteousness, is ac- 



Election — Chosen of God. 145 

cepted with him." Man's acceptance with God 
depends on his obedience. If God predesti- 
nated a certain number to do his will and 
elected them because they were predestinated 
to do his will, what is obedience and disobe- 
dience? 

The Ephesians obeyed the gospel, thereby 
complying with the conditions which Jesus 
commanded to be preached to every creature. 
Every man that now obeys the gospel has the 
same assurance that he, too, was chosen of God 
in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the 
world, for God made obedience the condition 
of choice. Before the Ephesians obeyed the 
gospel they were dead in trespasses and sin. 
"Having no hope and without God in the 
world." (Eph. 2: 12.) "Chosen us in him" 
through obedience. Xo man is in Christ Je- 
sus until he is a new creature. He is not a new 
creature while dead in trespasses and sin. 

God purposed that all who will obey, and 
they only, would be accepted or chosen. "For 
the Lord is not willing that any should perish, 
but that all should come to repentance." (2 
Pet. 3:9.) The Lord "now commandeth all 
men everywhere to repent." (Acts 17: 30.) 
If God unconditionally elected a certain num- 
ber to do his will, how can it be expected of the v 
rest to repent ? Why command all men every- 
where to repent if God so fixed it from the 
beginning that only a certain number could re- 
pent? 

10 



146 The Plan of Salvation. 

If the Lord chose certain men to do his will 
and saved them before the foundation of the 
world because they were chosen to do his will, 
and punished the rest because they were not 
chosen to do his will, means an unconditional 
election, and makes God a respecter of per- 
sons, which is not true. The burden of the 
New Testament is an appeal to all men to obey 
the gospel and be saved. No man can place his 
hand on a single person for whom Christ did 
not die. You may let your mind run all over 
the world, and you will not find a man to whom 
Jesus has not commanded that his gospel 
should be preached. 

It is true that free salvation to all who will 
obey, and that God is no respecter of persons, 
is abundantly taught, but cannot be harmo- 
nized with unconditional election. But condi- 
tional election, free salvation to all who will 
obey, and that God is no respecter of persons, 
harmonizes perfectly. 

The Thessalonians, when found by gospel 
preachers, were idol worshipers. After hear- 
ing the gospel, they believed it and turned to 
God. Yet it is stated of them that "God hath 
from the beginning chosen you to salvation 
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief 
of the truth." (2 Thess. 2: 13.) How chosen? 
"Through sanctification of the Spirit and be- 
lief of the truth." The Spirit was given to re- 
veal the truth. Truth obeyed makes free men. 



Election — Chosen of God. 147 

But they were not new creatures in Christ Je- 
sus until after they turned from idols unto 
God. 

Their being chosen of God does not refer to 
a creative preparation, but to a condition — a 
change wrought upon them by gospel obedi- 
ence. God purposed from the beginning that 
man must be a new creature to be in Christ 
Jesus; and to become such, he must obey the 
gospel purposed of the Lord at the time choice 
was made. Whoever obeys the gospel, it mat- 
ters not how many nor how few nor in what 
part or parts of the world, they are in Christ 
Jesus and were chosen in him before the foun- 
dation of the world. 

. "Elect according to the foreknowledge of 
God the Father, through sanctification of the 
Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the 
blood of Jesus Christ." ( 1 Pet. 1:2.) By the 
foreknowledge of God the plan of salvation 
was purposed, completed, and offered to all 
men. Through the Spirit the gospel was re- 
vealed. The sprinkling of the blood of Jesus 
represents its atoning effect. Obedience means 
gospel obedience. 

Peter, referring to the same people, says: 
"Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying 
the truth." (Verse 22.) Nowhere in any of 
the Epistles are they spoken of as the chosen 
or elect until they had obeyed the gospel. 

God decreed that the obedient should be ac- 



148 The Plan of Salvation. 

cepted with him; and when he purposed the 
conditions of salvation through Jesus Christ, 
he made his election through these conditions. 
When any man obeys the gospel, he has 
reached the required standard upon which God 
based the election before the foundation of 
the world. Obedient characters, and not per- 
sons, were chosen ; and whosoever obeys as did 
the brethren to whom the different Epistles 
are addressed, becomes one of the chosen in 
person. If ten million, or whatever the num- 
ber may have been who heard the apostles 
preach, had obeyed the gospel, they would have 
done exactly what the apostles tried to get 
them to do and what God commanded them to 
do, and would have been addressed together 
with the rest as the "elect of God/' because 
the purposed conditions of acceptance upon 
which God based the test of choice of all, with- 
out respect of persons, would have been com- 
plied with. Nowhere can you find where God 
requires less of any man, nor anything more 
of any man, than to be a faithful member of 
the church of Jesus Christ. 



Election — Continued. 149 



CHAPTER XXIV- 



ELECTION— CONTINUED. 



"All that the Father giveth me shall come to 
me; and him that cometh to me I will in no 
wise cast out." (John 6: 37.) The Father 
gave the Son power by which he might prove 
his Sonship and the Fatherhood of God. Je- 
sus manifested the Father in the flesh. He 
said of himself he could do nothing, meaning 
that the supernatural power in w r orking mir- 
acles was by the power of the Father. God has 
given evidence through his Son, and through 
this evidence believers are given to the Son. 

Jesus told the multitude that it is the work 
of God, or a work that God requires of them, 
that they believe on his Son ; that it is the will 
of him that sent me that every one which seeth 
the Son and believeth on him may have ever- 
lasting life. It is the Father's will that no one 
deny his Son ; that if they denied the Son, they 
denied the Father who sent him; that if they 
had believed Moses, they would also believe 
him, for Moses wrote of him. 

"No man can come to me except the Father 
which hath sent me draw him." It is by the 



150 The Plan of Salvation. 

power of the Father that men are drawn to the 
Son, and Jesus so taught. The power of the 
Father exercised through the Son is the power 
that draws men. "And they shall be taught 
of God. Every man therefore that hath heard 
and learned of the Father cometh unto me." 
Jesus was directing their minds to the fact that 
he, as the Son of God, was revealing the love 
of the Father, and what the Father was doing 
and would do for them through the Son ; that 
when the purposes of God were correctly un- 
derstood, they would come to the Son. Man 
can be changed from a disbeliever to a believer, 
but he must listen to the Lord's teaching. 

"Labor not for the meat which perisheth, 
but for that meat which endureth unto ever- 
lasting life, which the Son of man shall give 
unto you." He had fed five thousand with five 
loaves and two fishes. Did he not command 
every man and make the same promise to all? 
If a certain number were predestinated and 
chosen to do his will, why command all and 
make the same promise to all? 

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, 
and they follow me : and I give unto them eter- 
nal life; and they shall never perish, neither 
shall any man pluck them out of my hand." 
(John 10: 27, 28.) The shepherd and his 
sheep is a favorite figure of the Bible. This 
chapter tells of an inclosed place into which the 
shepherds would bring their sheep at night for 



Election — Continued. 151 

protection and rest. This inclosure had a door 
through which the different flocks could pass. 

On the morning the door would be opened, 
and the different shepherds would begin to call. 
Each sheep knew the voice of its shepherd. 
Each sheep was named, and would not follow 
strangers. From this method of handling 
sheep Jesus draws many beautiful lessons in 
application to himself as shepherd and to his 
followers as sheep. Jesus taught by this lesson 
that in order to be his sheep they must be as 
submissive to him as shepherd as the natural 
sheep were to their shepherds. 

Jesus said: "I am the door; by me if any 
man enter in he shall be saved, and shall go 
in and out, and find pasture." To whom is 
salvation promised? To any man who will 
enter. Is he saved before he ever enters? If 
he never enters, will he be saved? Jesus Christ 
is the doorway into the kingdom of God. Man 
passes through the door by obeying the con- 
ditions of the gospel. Salvation is through 
Jesus Christ. "By me if any man enter in," it 
matters not who he may be, if he goes through 
the door, the appointed way, becomes a sheep 
of the spiritual fold. 

Jesus does not teach that a certain number 
were predestinated and chosen, and they only 
compose the number that could and would hear 
his voice and follow him, and thereby reject 
and debar from entering the door all the rest. 



152 The Plan of Salvation. 

If that be true, to whom does he refer in the 
words: "If any man enter in, he shall be 
saved?" It cannot apply to the supposed pre- 
destinated and chosen, for a condition is ex- 
pressed. But any man that does not hear his 
voice and follow him, as the natural sheep did 
their shepherds, that they are not his sheep, for 
his sheep would be as willing to follow him as 
the natural sheep their shepherds. 

"Well/' says one, "a sheep is a sheep, and a 
goat is a goat, and goats cannot be changed to 
sheep nor sheep to goats. Just here is where 
the teachings of the Master are confused." 
There is no mention of goats in the tenth chap- 
ter of John. The leading thought is obedience 
and submission to the great Shepherd of men. 

In the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew we 
have the idea of separation of the good and 
bad — judgment day. The Savior compares 
this to a shepherd dividing his sheep from the 
goats. One is a separation of bad men and 
good men ; the other, a separation of goats and 
sheep. After the separation, bad men are 
classed as goats and good men as sheep. The 
sheep are set on the right hand; the goats, on 
the left. The right hand is an emblem of honor 
and power. Those on the right hand are re- 
warded and told why thus rewarded; likewise 
those on the left hand. Obedience and disobe- 
dience, reward and punishment, is the story. 

Did the Lord cause those on the left hand to 



Election — Continued. 153 

do evil, and then punish them because he made 
them to do evil ? Did the Lord cause the five 
foolish virgins to act foolish, and then shut 
them out because they had acted foolish ? No ; 
they were foolish for not doing what they 
might have done. Did the Lord predestinate 
that the wicked and slothful servant should dig 
in the earth and hide the one talent, and be- 
cause he was thus predestinated he could not be 
chosen? No; the way he acted is why he has 
the name. Some foolish virgins and slothful 
servants are still living. 

Some have the idea that the sheep-man and 
the goat-man have been and always will be the 
same. It is true that natural sheep and goats 
keep their own nature. But the Master does 
not claim that man cannot be changed, but 
teaches the contrary. Man once dead in tres- 
passes and sins brought to newness of life is a 
greater change than a natural goat becoming 
a sheep. Man debauched, covered with sin and 
guilt, who is unsafe for good society, a cor- 
rupter of good morals, and an enemy to the 
church, is certainly not at that time a sheep of 
the spiritual fold. But such can be and has 
been changed, and the change is even greater 
than a natural goat becoming a sheep. The 
acts of man are not unyielding as the nature of 
natural sheep and goats. God did not send his 
Son into the world to condemn it, but that the 
world through him might be saved. (John 3: 



154 The Plan of Salvation. 

17.) Is this the elect world? No, for it was 
not saved at this time. "Might be saved" ex- 
presses a possibility for the world and not a 
part. 

Men are also represented as being fruit trees, 
and are followed up by a judgment just as the 
sheep and goats. A good tree, bearing good 
fruit, represents a good man. Has man any- 
thing to do with the kind of tree and kind of 
fruit ? Jesus said : "Either make the tree good, 
and his fruit good; or else make the tree cor- 
rupt, and his fruit corrupt : for the tree is known 
by his fruit." (Matt. 12 : 33.) The fruit tells 
the kind of tree. It is better to do evil without 
the pretense of being good than to pretend to 
be good and bear evil fruit. A hypocrite has 
one extra sin to account for — that of hypoc- 
risy — which is a grievous one. That is why 
Jesus teaches that it is better for a man to be 
honest in his acts. A hypocrite is worse than 
an infidel. 

A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit. 
It must be changed. We have seen old, rusty, 
grouchy, crab-apple men changed and become 
bearers of the peaceable fruits of righteous- 
ness. God furnishes the means for a change — 
the gospel ; and if man will hear it and obey it, 
the tree and his fruit will be changed. 

Naturally speaking, a fruit tree is not 
changed to a different kind, no more than a 
natural goat is changed to a sheep; but the 



Election — Continued. 155 

tree is used to represent man, and man can be 
and has been changed. A change that is made 
by man is by figure of speech spoken of as tak- 
ing place in the tree. The change that takes 
place in man must also be represented as tak- 
ing place in the tree and his fruit, else the fig- 
ure of speech is not good. The change of man 
can be so great that it is represented by chang- 
ing one kind of tree to that of another. Man 
can make of himself an idolatrous tree, bearing 
the fruits of idolatry, or he can make a good 
tree, bearing righteous fruits. 



156 The Plan of Salvation. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



ELECTION— CONCLUDED. 



"For whom he did foreknow, he also did 
predestinate to be conformed to the image of 
his Son, that he might be the firstborn among 
many brethren. Moreover whom he did pre- 
destinate, them he also called: and whom he 
called, them he also justified : and whom he jus- 
tified, them he also glorified." (Rom. 8: 29, 
30.) The persons referred to in this passage 
were foreknown and had been called, justified, 
and glorified when Paul wrote — all in the past 
tense. 

Who are the "foreknown" of whom Paul is 
writing? The children of Israel. (Rom. 11: 
1, 2.) To what were they "predestinated?" 
"To be conformed to the image of his Son." 
For what purpose? "That he might be the 
firstborn among many brethren." When was 
this predestination fulfilled ? When Jesus was 
raised from the dead. Compare the expression, 
"firstborn among many brethren," to Matt. 27: 
52, 53 : "And the graves were opened ; and many 
bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came 
out of the graves after his resurrection, and 



Election — Concluded. 157 

went into the holy city, and appeared unto 
many." Notice how careful the writer is in 
stating "after the resurrection." We now 
have the "firstborn," and also the "many breth- 
ren." Many bodies of the saints arose, no 
doubt, who had been dead for centuries. The 
"foreknown," "his people," who lived and died 
before the resurrection of Jesus, were predes- 
tinated to be conformed to his image and to 
rise from the dead at this time and be the 
"many brethren" of whom Christ was the 
"firstborn." They were predestinated to a 
resurrection through Jesus Christ. 

"Moreover whom he did predestinate, them 
he also called." According to the purpose of 
God, they were called to live under the law; 
by faith in the promise of the coming Savior, 
obey the law that foreshadowed his coming. 
The call dates back to Abraham when he was 
told to leave his country. 

"Whom he called, them he also justified." 
They could not be and were not justified by the 
law. The blood of animals could not take 
away sin. Only by the blood of Jesus could 
those who had been dead for centuries be jus- 
tified. The justifying power of the blood of 
Jesus was not effective until he had been raised 
from the dead. 

"Whom he justified, them he also glorified." 
The living Jew r after the resurrection of Jesus 
Christ was no longer under the law. The law 



158 The Plan of Salvation. 

is past, and a new covenant founded upon bet- 
ter promises has been given. So far as Jew 
and Gentile, there is no difference as to gospel 
obedience. 

We believe that the grand old men who lived 
in ages past, who died in faith, not having re- 
ceived the promises, but saw them afar off, 
embraced them, confessing that they were 
strangers and pilgrims on the earth, were glo- 
rified when Jesus was raised from the dead; 
for this scriptures refers to past acts of God 
upon a past people. 

The long-standing promises of God with ref- 
erence to the Jews as a chosen people made to 
Abraham, that all nations should be blessed 
through his seed, had been fulfilled ; that it 
marks the beginning of a new era, not only 
with the Jew, but the whole world. Paul, rea- 
soning from the fulfilled promise and glory 
with reference to Israel, states that God had 
not even spared his own Son, but delivered him 
up for us all. "If God be for us, who can 
be against us?" — meaning that God will bring 
to pass his promises. 

We will give a few more reasons why we 
believe that those people mentioned in Rom. 
8: 29, 30 refer to the past dead. "If so be that 
we suffer with him, that we may be also glo- 
rified together." Paul is telling these people 
what they must experience for the sake of 
Christ that they may be glorified. It is,~then, 



Election — Concluded. 159 

a certain fact that they were not included in the 
number glorified in Rom. 8 : 29, 30. 

Paul, in speaking of his kinsmen in the flesh, 
was so anxious about them that he had great 
heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart. 
(Rom. 9:1-4.) If they had been of the num- 
ber glorified, would he have had any uneasi- 
ness concerning their future ? Paul knew that 
all men must accept Christ if they are ever 
saved ; that no man who denies the Son of God 
can be saved. And the Jews, as a nation, had 
denied the Christ, and Paul felt uneasy for 
them. 

Paul makes another statement somewhat 
similar that expresses his desire for the diso- 
bedient Jew: "Brethren, my heart's desire and 
prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be 
saved/' (Rom. 10: 1.) Paul did not think 
they were already saved and among the num- 
ber glorified. If a certain number had been 
predestinated and chosen to eternal life and 
had been glorified, either in purpose or in fact, 
Paul would have known it. He would not have 
lost any time in trying to persuade men against 
the decrees and fixed purposes of God. But 
this he knew : that for them to be glorified, they 
must accept, obey, and suffer for the sake of 
Christ. 

Another statement of Paul helps us to a bet- 
ter understanding of whom he refers when 
speaking of the foreknown. "As he saith also 



160 The Plan of Salvation. 

in Hosea, I will call them my people, which 
were not my people; and her beloved, which 
was not beloved/' (Rom. 9: 25.) This refer- 
ence is to the Gentile world, but they are not 
the "foreknown," "his people," referred to in 
Rom. 11: 1, 2, nor were they numbered with 
those glorified of Rom. 8: 29, 30. When did 
these Gentiles become his people ? When they 
accepted Christ and obeyed his gospel. The 
Gentile has the same access to the gospel; the 
middle wall has been broken down. For Jew 
and Gentile to be called according to his pur- 
pose means to be called according to the gospel. 
(Rom. 16: 25, 26.) 

Paul says: "Hath God cast away his people? 
God forbid." (Rom. 11: 1.) The Jews who 
lived at the time of the resurrection of Jesus 
Christ and since were not "cast away," because 
God had through Jesus Christ put an end to the 
law of Moses and set up a new dispensation, 
and they had refused to believe in Jesus Christ. 
But God still had an open door for them. 
"And they also, if they abide not still in unbe- 
lief, shall be graff ed in : for God is able to graff 
them in again." (Rom. 11: 23.) But notice 
the condition: "If they abide not still in unbe- 
lief." 

"And so all Israel shall be saved." (Rom. 
11 : 26.) We are not to understand that Paul 
means those who reject Christ shall be saved, 
for he has already stated: "If they abide not 



Election — Concluded. 161 

still in unbelief." The natural branches were 
broken off because of unbelief. So all Israel 
who abide not in unbelief shall be saved. They 
are really the true Israel. All who die reject- 
ing the Christ certainly have not been born 
again and will not enter the kingdom of God. 

"According as he hath chosen us in him be- 
fore the foundation of the world." (Eph. 1: 
4.) Would a chosen Israelite who dies without 
believing in Christ be chosen in Christ before 
the foundation of the world ? Man was chosen 
in Christ, and not out of him. But man is not 
in Christ until he is a new creature. He must 
be born of water and of the Spirit to enter the 
kingdom of God. The gospel obeyed is God's 
law and way of making new creatures. When 
a man puts on Christ in baptism, he is then in 
Christ, a new creature, chosen in him before 
the foundation of the world ; not chosen at that 
time to comply with the conditions, but be- 
cause he has now complied; not uncondition- 
ally saved and chosen to do his will, but for 
doing the conditions of his will to be saved. 
When God purposed the conditions of salva- 
tion through Jesus Christ before the founda- 
tion of the world, the conditions determined 
his choice, and that for "whosoever" would 
obey. 

Just here we are reminded of a conversation 
with a colored man who said that whatever he 
did was predestinated of God. It seemed that 
li 



162 The Plan of Salvation. 

the old man really believed it. We said to 
him: "Did you ever tell a lie?" "Yes, sir/' 
was the reply. "Well, did not God command 
you not to lie?" "He did." "Then, according 
to your theory, God commanded you not to lie, 
but had predestinated that you should. Who is 
responsible for the lie told?" The old man saw 
the point and answered correctly: "I am." 
This is true with all men and with all commands 
of God. 

"It is written, Man shall not live by bread 
alone, but by every word that proceedeth out 
of the mouth of God." If it is not every man's 
duty and privilege, will some one please tell us 
who is excused from such a life? What man 
can place one hand on the Bible and the other 
on his heart and turn his face heavenward and 
truthfully say that God has excused him from 
living such a life ? Obedience and disobedience 
fixes the destiny of all men. 

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole 
matter: Fear God, and keep his command- 
ments : for this is the whole duty of man." 



" Final Perseverance of Saints. " 163 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



"FINAL PERSEVERANCE OF SAINTS." 



This is a wholesome doctrine to many. We 
have many friends and relatives that believe 
this teaching. But we want to know the teach- 
ing of the Book on this great question, as no 
such question can be settled apart from the 
word of God. Truth is mighty and as lasting 
as eternity; it is as powerful as the throne of 
God. 

We wish to ask three questions and, accord- 
ing to the teaching of God's word, answer 
them: 

1. Is it possible for man to fall? 

2. Is it possible for fallen man to be re- 
stored ? 

3. Is it possible for man to fall so low that 
he cannot be restored? 

We think this a very important subject, be- 
cause man is inspired to effort and steadfast- 
ness when he realizes that his relationship to 
God and his kingdom is maintained by a con- 
tinued gospel obedience. 

The Book is dotted from beginning to end 
with duties and warnings. The warnings 



164 The Plan of Salvation. 

within themselves are proof of the possibility 
of a fall. Dangers are so common that the 
Book defines very closely and clearly the safe 
side of man. "Abhor that which is evil; 
cleave to that which is good." Man is to culti- 
vate a hatred for evil, and in his own life is 
the place to begin. It is possible for man to 
overcome evil with good by cleaving to the 
good, and it is possible for the possible good of 
man to be overcome of evil by not cleaving to 
the good. Man is to-put on the whole armor of 
God— "fight the good fight of faith/' Who- 
soever fails to make just such a fight will be 
captured by the enemy. 

"Wherefore the rather, brethren, give dili- 
gence to make your calling and election sure: 
for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall." 
(2 Pet. 1: 10.) A man's calling and election 
are made sure by addition or growth. What 
makes sure the call and election prevents a 
fall. "Diligence" is a strong word, and means 
full-grown efforts to live up to the standard of 
required growth. It is by actual experience 
that man acquaints himself with the duties 
commanded of God. Truth obeyed gives 
knowledge of the truth and an experience of 
its power. 

"But they that will be rich fall into tempta- 
tion and a snare, and into many foolish and 
hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction 
and perdition." (1 Tim. 6:9.) A man may 



" Final Perseverance of Saints." 165 

yield to the love of money until he will for- 
get the true purposes of life and at last be 
drowned in destruction and perdition. Not 
only warned of a fall, but of a destruction — an 
utter destruction. Evils connected with money- 
making are so numerous that we have many 
warnings on the subject. A warning is a sig- 
nal of danger. The wise man heeds the warn- 
ings; the foolish man runs over them into 
destruction. 

Any man that loves money better than just 
principles is on dangerous ground. True 
weights, measures, and values are a delight to 
the Lord. How dwelleth the love of God in a 
man that seeks the advantage of his fellow- 
man through the man's ignorance or his op- 
pressed needy circumstances? The man that 
pushes aside honesty and fair dealing, seeking 
the eagle above all things else, is a mammon 
worshiper. 

It is possible for a man to be so bound up 
and wound up by the love of money that he can- 
not hear the cries of widows and orphans. The 
tendency to fraud and deception, to purchase 
and not pay, is so great we need to study more 
closely the result of such doings. 

"Seeing then that all these things shall be 
dissolved, what manner of person ought ye to 
be in all holy conversation and godliness?" (2 
Pet. 3: 11.) Why this warning? To stir up 
their pure minds by way of remembrance. To 



166 The Plan of Salvation. 

be writing to men of pure minds to remind 
them of a closer walk is certainly a strong ex- 
pression of a common need of man in order to 
make a safe landing. 

" Wherefore let him that thinketh he stand- 
eth take heed lest he fall." (1 Cor. 10: 12.) 
Why take heed? "Lest he fall." There is no 
man but needs this admonition. None ever be- 
comes so good that he outgrows it. It mat- 
ters not how securely and firmly grounded in 
the faith he may think himself to be, he reaches 
times and places in life that he needs to stop 
and consider the words: "Take heed." By 
taking heed is where his help comes in that 
prevents a fall. When he takes heed, he will 
not move a step without a "thus saith the 
Lord." 

"Holding faith, and a good conscience; 
which some having put away concerning faith 
have made shipwreck." (1 Tim. 1: 19.) 
When a man's faith is torn up and wrecked as 
a vessel at sea, has he not fallen ? He has failed 
to take heed and to watch. Can a shipwreck 
of faith befall a man who has never had faith ? 
"Having condemnation, because they have cast 
off their first faith." (1 Tim. 5: 12.) How 
cast off faith, if never in possession? Does 
not the writer say that at one time they had 
faith? "For some are already turned aside 
after Satan." (Verse 15.) How turn aside, 
if never in the narrow way? "For we are 



" Final Perseverance of Saints." 167 

made partakers of Christ, if we hold the begin- 
ning of our confidence steadfast unto the end." 
(Heb. 3 : 14.) Notice the condition. 

"The dog is turned to his own vomit again; 
and the sow that was washed to her wallowing 
in the mire." (2 Pet. 2: 22.) Could you for- 
mulate language to express more clearly a fall 
from a previous condition? If not possible, 
why this proverb ? 

"For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved 
this present world." (2 Tim. 4: 10.) He was 
a companion of Paul, and even sent greeting 
to the brethren at Colosse. (Col. 4: 14.) We 
could give passage after passage in proof that 
a man may at one time love God and turn to the 
love of the w 7 orld; but we think this sufficient 
to put it beyond controversy. 

If God predestinated their fall, who will be 
profited by his warnings and admonitions? 
Were the words, "take heed lest ye fall," in- 
tended for those that were predestinated to fall 
or those that were predestinated not to fall ? 

Second question: "Is it possible for fallen 
man to be restored?" 

In Revelation, chapters tw r o and three, we 
have messages to the different churches — local 
congregations. Their good and evil are pointed 
out. For their evil they are commanded to 
"repent." They are told what to do to be re- 
stored. We suspect some did and some did 
not. 



168 The Plan of Salvation. 

"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, 
ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in 
the spirit of meekness ; considering thyself, lest 
thou also be tempted." (Gal. 6:1.) This pas- 
sage teaches that a brother may fall and may 
be restored by the spiritual. The thought of 
church discipline, and also how close it is to 
be enforced, is suggested by this passage. 

The object of church discipline is to preserve 
the standard of required purity; to deal with 
the erring for the purpose of restoring. If 
the efforts of the spiritual fail, the church is 
to withdraw. The church is now suffering 
from want of pruning. The standard of pu- 
rity has been lowered by allowing ungodly men 
of all classes to rerpain and claim their church 
identification. It is an injustice to the un- 
godly, and has a paralyzing effect upon the 
church and its mission. The church needs a 
"back-door" revival. Those overtaken in a 
fault must be dealt with in order to have a 
growing church. A church filled up with liars, 
whoremongers, drunkards, extortioners, and 
such like, has no spiritual power nor influence. 
It means death. 

"Brethren, if any of you do err from the 
truth, and one convert him ; let him know, that 
he which converteth the sinner from the error 
of his way shall save a soul from death, and 
shall hide a multitude of sins." (James 5 : 19, 
20.) Suppose an erring brother was saved and 
elected before the foundation of the world, as 



" Final Perseverance of Saints." 169 

taught by some, how could his soul be saved 
from death, when he is already eternally saved ? 
Suppose he is eternally lost, why teach a pos- 
sibility of saving such ? 

This passage clearly teaches two possibili- 
ties — one of a brother erring, and one of con- 
verting the erring. By converting the erring, 
a soul is saved from death. This is not phys- 
ical death, but a death of the soul. Does not 
this passage teach that if an erring brother is 
not changed or restored, he will lose his soul 
in death? 

"If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke 
him; and if he repent, forgive him." (Luke 
17: 3.) How often? If necessary, "seventy 
times seven." (Matt. 18: 22.) In the first 
part of this chapter Jesus warned them about 
offending. He next tells them how to proceed 
with an offender. The point of the lesson that 
we wish to notice is when the offender refuses 
to hear the church. The church is not to rec- 
ognize him as a brother, but to treat him as the 
church should treat a heathen and a publican; 
not to abandon the idea of restoring him. This 
passage teaches a possibility of restoring an 
offending brother before it is carried to the 
church for final disposition. If a brother 
proves himself unworthy of church member- 
ship and the church by divine instruction with- 
draws from such, could a man unworthy of 
church fellowship be worthy of companionship 
with the redeemed in glory ? 



170 Tjtr Plan of Salvation. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



'FINAL PERSEVERANCE OF SAINTS" 
—CONCLUDED. 



Third question: "Is it possible for man to 
fall so low that he cannot be restored ?" 

There is a division on this point. Some 
claim that the Lord gives no bogus titles, which 
is true. But if the life is a bogus one, his title 
will be the same. Man's final reward will be 
according to the life. 

It is claimed by some that if a man has 
been saved, he will never be lost ; that if he has 
been born of the Spirit, even if he should fall 
away, he will finally be restored and saved; 
that if a man has once been saved, he has a 
clear title at all times to the glory world. 

The Master said: "And these shall go away 
into everlasting punishment ; but the righteous 
into life eternal/' We believe that both good 
and bad will have an eternal existence; that 
everlasting life is not merely an eternal exist- 
ence, but an existence free of punishment and 
full of bliss and glory. Everlasting punish- 
ment and not sharing the glories of heaven is 
death. This life or this death begins with us 



" Final Perseverance " — Concluded. 171 

in this world. We live the life of life or the 
death of death. 

The man that obeys the law of pardon is 
saved from his past sins and enters upon a 
new life — a babe in Christ. He is saved from 
a punishment that was at one time just. But 
his future life is to be on a higher plane. He 
must go the narrow way to keep right. Here 
is where so many fail. The real battles of life 
are now on. A good fight of faith must be 
made to be victorious. He must not, like the 
sow that was washed, again wallow in the mire 
of wickedness. Being saved from his past 
sins does not save him from his future mis- 
takes. He is to remain faithful until death to 
receive the crown of life. It is after death that 
the righteous enter into everlasting life. 

"Christ is become of no effect unto you, who- 
soever of you are justified by the law; ye are 
fallen from grace." (Gal. 5:4.) It is possi- 
ble for man to depart from the doctrine of 
Christ. We are warned against antichrist, 
false teachers and prophets. If impossible for 
such to have an influence, why the warning? 
How could these people fall from grace if never 
in possession? "Ye are fallen from grace." 
The Book says so. 

"Whosoever is born of God doth not com- 
mit sin ; for his seed remaineth in him : and he 
cannot sin, because he is born of God." (1 
John 3: 9.) Some think that this passage 



172 The Plan of Salvation. 

teaches the impossibility of a man born of 
God committing sin; but such a conclusion is 
not in harmony with the general teaching of 
the Book, nor even with John's teaching. The 
first two divisions of this chapter deal with 
this question. 

In 1 John 2: 1, 2; 2: 14; 2: 28 we have the 
words "abide" and "continue." If not possi- 
ble for these little children in Christ to fall, 
to be led away and deceived by the enemy, the 
warning is meaningless. When a man is born 
of God, he is not spiritually grown, nor will 
he grow unless the word of God abides in him. 
The seed of God that remain is the word of 
God. "Being born again, not of corruptible 
seed, but of incorruptible." 

John does not teach that a man can be so 
steadfast that it is imposible for him to com- 
mit sin, but is showing how to fortify self 
against the attacks of the enemy by having 
the word of God abiding in them. A man 
cannot be true and sin willfully, and this is the 
point of his warning. Man cannot sin will- 
fully and maintain a holy relationship to God. 
The moment that man sins he is in need of par- 
don, and unless he obeys the law of pardon re- 
quired of a brother overtaken in a fault, which 
is repentance and prayer, he cannot inherit 
eternal life- 
It is not the impossibility of committing sin 
expressed in the negative, "cannot sin," but the 



" Final Perseverance " — Concluded. 173 

impossibility of continuing in sin and remain- 
ing a true follower of Jesus Christ. Man can- 
not be true and untrue at the same time; man 
cannot be married and unmarried at the same 
time. This is the standard that John puts be- 
fore the little children, and tells them that he is 
writing these things unto them "that ye sin 
not." ' 

"Every branch in me that beareth not fruit 
he taketh away." (John 15: 2.) Jesus is the 
true vine; the Father, the husbandman; the 
branches, his disciples. If a man is a branch 
of the vine,, is he not born of God ? Could he 
be a branch and not be a child of God? Note 
the words, "every branch in me." Each one, 
taken separately, "that beareth not fruit he 
taketh away." Bearing fruit refers to deeds 
of righteousness. The branches must abide 
in the vine to bear fruit. Does not this scrip- 
ture teach that a man may be saved, be a 
branch of the vine, and then fail to bear fruit 
and be cut off ? After he is cut off, is he then a 
saved man? He was once a saved man, but 
now a lost man. The church may fail to with- 
draw from ungodly men, but the Father taketh 
away such. They are not counted with the 
saved. Our spiritual relationship to the Mas- 
ter is maintained through obedience and is sev- 
ered by disobedience. 

It is claimed by some that all persons for 
whom Christ died will be saved. Hear the 



174 The Plan of Salvation. 

Book: "And through thy knowledge shall the 
weak brother perish for whom Christ died." 
How perish as being a brother unless once 
numbered with the saved? If once numbered 
with the saved and then perish, man may at 
one time be saved and then be lost. If such a 
brother was predestinated to perish, then 
Christ died for the predestinated lost. If not 
predestinated to perish, we can see some reason 
of the commanded duties toward this brother. 

In this passage we see one of the reasons 
why the Master expects fruit of the branches. 
A weak brother especially needs the influence 
of righteous men to help him along with the 
trials and burdens of life. "Bear ye one an- 
other's burdens, and so fulfill the law of 
Christ." There is another thought in burden 
bearing: "For every man shall bear his own 
burden." It is the duty of every man and 
made a part of his burden to help all, and es- 
pecially the weak. 

Paul, in Acts 20: 28-31, in his charge to the 
elders of Ephesus, tells them of the solemn du- 
ties committed unto them — watching the flock. 
What flock is this ? The one at Ephesus (verse 
17) ; the one chosen in him before the founda- 
tion of the world (Eph. 1 : 4). He told them 
that grievous wolves shall enter in among 
them, not sparing the flock. He does not say 
the wolves are of the flock, but shall enter 
in. Paul had an idea of the strong efforts that 



" Final Perseverance " — Concluded. 175 

would be made to introduce false teachings 
among them, and thereby shipwreck their faith. 

Paul had not ceased to warn every one night 
and day with tears for three years. If not pos- 
sible for a member of the flock to be lost, why 
warn them night and day with tears? Why 
shed tears of uneasiness and have heart long- 
ings if there was no danger ? Why shed tears 
and warn them if God had eternally saved them 
before the foundation of the world? If that 
be true, what could grievous wolves do with 
such a flock as that? If once saved means for- 
ever saved, Paul made useless efforts. 

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, 
and they follow me : and I give unto them eter- 
nal life; and they shall never perish, neither 
shall any man pluck them out of my hand." 
(John 10: 27, 28.) Note: Eternal life is given 
to them that hear his voice and follow him. 
Remove hearing his voice and following him, 
and there is no promise of eternal life. The 
man that hears his voice and follows him is 
the man that will never perish. This is not 
the road to destruction. 

Jesus does not teach that it is impossible 
for a man to sin and be lost, but teaches that 
it is impossible for a man to perish that hears 
his voice and follows him. Just so long as the 
branches "abide" in the vine and bear fruit 
they are in a safe condition. So long as his 
sheep hear his voice and follow him they are 



176 The Plan of Salvation. 

obeying his commands and bearing fruits of 
righteousness, and they are safe, and they are 
his sheep if they do this. 

"For it is impossible for those who were 
once enlightened, and have tasted of the 
heavenly gift, and were made partakers of 
the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word 
of God, and the powers of the world to come, 
if they shall fall away, to renew them again 
unto repentance; seeing they crucify to them- 
selves the Son of God afresh, and put him to 
an open shame." (Heb. 6: 4-6.) Notice the 
attainments — once enlightened, tasted of the 
heavenly gift, partakers of the Holy Spirit, 
tasted the good word of God, and the pow- 
ers of the world to come. 

The argument is that they who have gone so 
far in divine life, "if they shall fall away," 
that such could not be renewed unto repent- 
ance. They would be below the redeeming 
grace of God ; nothing in the divine scheme of 
redemption to reach them. Such would be to- 
tally depraved. We believe that many have 
fallen and afterwards become steadfast in di- 
vine life. But whenever men go as far as the 
description here given, if they then "fall 
away," there is no recovery. If not possible 
for men to make such attainments and then fall 
away, why the mention of such ? 

"I will therefore put you in remembrance, 
though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, 



" Final Perseverance " — Concluded. 177 

having saved the people out of the land of 
Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed 
not." (Jude 5.) Once saved, but afterwards 
destroyed. Why the necessity of reminding 
them unless man can at one time be saved and 
then fall away and be lost ? 

"And the angels which kept not their first 
estate, but left their own habitation, he hath 
reserved . . . unto the judgment of the 
great day." (Jude 6; 2 Pet. 2: 4.) Even an- 
gels can fall and lose their first estate. 

We think the third question satisfactorily 
answered. 

"And now, brethren, I commend you to God, 
and to the word of his grace, which is able to 
build you up, and to give you an inheritance 
among all them which are sanctified." 



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